Reclaiming the Past
by KatieTaylor
Summary: Investigating a missing person’s case turns more personal for Mick than he originally thought it would when someone returns from his past… or is it his present?
1. Prologue

Written:

Rating: PG-13

Word Count:

Characters: Mick, Beth, Josef, Coraline, Cynthia, OCs

Pairings: MickBeth, MickCora

Spoilers: None.

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: I claim no rights to any characters or situations from Warner Brothers' Moonlight, and seek no monetary redress from this derivative work of fiction.

Summary: Investigating a missing person's case turns more personal for Mick than he originally thought it would when someone returns from his past… or is it his present?

Comment: This was my NaNoWriMo (.org) project for 2009. I finished the challenge with 57 003 words, but the story wasn't finished yet!

I had this idea floating around in my head, inspired by the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where she thinks she made it (the vampire stuff) all up and she's actually in a psych ward. It was on MLL, though, and a similar challenge from someone (souly, I think? I only have the now dead link) that I knew exactly how I wanted to do it. This has taken a slightly different turn, however, and doesn't focus on what I thought it would

Finally, this takes place in the future, where Mick and Beth are together. Everything happened as it did in the show EXCEPT that Coraline never made herself known and no one knows about The Cure.

VvvV

**Prologue **

Slowly, I become aware of my surroundings… or at least aware enough to know that something is wrong. Something I just can't put my finger on... if I could even move my finger. I don't even know where it is. It's like I'm floating here – wherever 'here' is. I feel like I should be able to do something, see something, hear something that will help me figure that out. I strain to hear what's going on around me – somehow I know there are people around me – but it's useless – muffled voices, other sounds that I can't pick out. Do I know this place? If I were able to open my eyes would I recognize it? Would I know these muffled voices? Will they help me or should I fear them?

And… 'I'? Who am I? I feel like that's a piece of information I should know. Why can't I remember? Everything feels fuzzy and nothing is making any sense to me. Am I a good person? Am I being punished for some crime I committed? Do I have people that love me? Are they here with me?

I know nothing. I'm like a blank slate. I don't remember what happened to me. I don't remember who I am. All I remember is that I SHOULD remember. I remember that this isn't how it's supposed to be. Whether these are memories or instincts, I don't know that either. I remember that I'm inquisitive; that I shouldn't just be letting this… whatever 'this' is… happen to me. I may not know who I am, but I do know that's not me. That's something I suppose. I'll hold onto that…

I hope. How many times have I had these thoughts? Have I simply been replaying the same conversation to myself over and over? For how long? And for how long will it continue? It has to stop. Now.

I claw and fight my way to the surface, through the thick fog that envelopes me. I scream and plea for help – someone, anyone, help me, bring me to the surface, tell me what's happening. I get tired from struggling, but some part of me – I don't know how it could know – says that I haven't moved a muscle; that the only sound that comes from me is the slow steady breathing of sleep.

At first it seems like a wasted effort, but then I realize... I still can't see or hear, but I can feel. I'm no longer floating, but grounded on this... hard bed, thin sheets, needles in veins, cool air drifting over me. I want to shiver. A sharp pain as something – a knife? – slices across my shoulder. Another needle and before I can understand anything else, I start to feel that sensation of flying again. I start to scream, a scream only heard in my own mind.

Before it ends, I forget what I'm screaming about. A moment later there is nothing.


	2. Chapter 1

They lay on the couch, arms and legs tangled together but perfectly comfortable. The only sounds that had drifted through the apartment in the last while were the beautiful sounds of her steady breathing, her sometimes racing heart and the soft strings of jazz from the stereo that Mick had turned on hours ago. He loved that they could just be laying here, enjoying each other's presence and he could STILL make her heart race. For a brief moment – and not for the first time – he wished he were human, if only so that she could feel his own heart race for HER. But that was impossible. Beth was human. He was a vampire. Nothing would ever change that – or at least nothing would ever change HIM. Despite how he may wish it not to be so, there was no cure for vampirism, no way to go back to being human and right now, Beth wasn't ready to be turned. Maybe she never would be but it didn't matter to him. He would love her and be at her side for eternity. If she chose to grow old and die, he would be at her side until that day came and would still love her for eternity.

She shifted in his arms that were wrapped loosely around her and looked up at him through her lashes. He smiled down at her, brushed a lock of perfect, golden hair from her face and finally leaned down to take her lips in a kiss that was just as lazy as they'd been for the last several hours. They weren't complaining, though; finally they'd had a night that neither of them had a pressing case or story to deal with. It was the first time since she'd moved in with him – the first time ever – that they hadn't been on the way to or from something; they had no meetings to attend or cases to solve. They could just be together. He had no interest in doing anything but spending every moment with the woman he loved and for that, neither of them had any interesting in rushing the night away. To be able to just lay entwined in the arms of the woman he loved, the woman who loved him, to enjoy just BEING with her… it was something he'd never had before. It was something he'd never realized he wanted until he found her – found her walking through that fountain almost two years ago. It was when he realized she'd grown up; she wasn't someone who needed protecting. She was someone he wanted to spend his life with.

As he ran his hand through her hair again, he mused that he would be happy to stay like this all night – forever, even. Nothing could compare to this… He smiled at that thought. Well, almost nothing. He loved to simply hold her, talk to her, as they had been doing so far tonight, but… other things were very enjoyable as well. She'd once joked that 'it' might not be any good. They'd proved that thought wrong many times since they'd both finally worked passed their fears and gotten together.

"What are you thinking, Mick?"

He looked down at her again; that knowing smirk on her face, tough he still tried to fool her. "I was thinking… what a beautiful night it was out." She'd once told him vampires were bad liars. He knew that wasn't true. It was more that he simply couldn't lie to HER. Of course, this time, he wasn't even trying; his smile was turning more and more into a grin and his eyes were twinkling with mischief.

She smirked back at him and turned in his arms to see him better. "Sure you were. I know that look too well, Mick St. John. You're busted. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm against the idea." To prove her point, she leaned down to take his lips in a kiss much rougher, more passionate, than the others they'd already shared tonight. How was he to deny such an invitation? As he began to return her kiss, however, there was a strange buzzing coming from the coffee table. Before he could even register that it was a phone, let alone who it belonged to, Beth was pulling away with a colourful curse, diving for the phone and sending the call to voicemail almost before she even saw who was calling. It must not have been Maureen – Beth always took her calls – so it couldn't have been important. For that, Mick was happy, though he wouldn't have gotten upset if it had been work calling her away; annoyed perhaps, but never upset. They both knew that while they loved each other, their jobs were important to them. He would never make her choose.

The phone dealt with, she returned to his arms, looking sheepish. "I'm sorry, Mick."

VvvV

A few days after his interrupted night alone with Beth, Mick got his own phone call. That had been yesterday and now he felt his client make her way down the hallway and he heard the shaky breath, the tentative knock at the door. He went to the door, opening it to welcome the woman into his office. She was tall; long, dark hair falling down her back. As she entered his office, her arms were wrapped tightly around herself, keeping the sweater she wore – much too warm for this time of years – tightly closed. Dark circles were under her eyes that held a sadness Mick was certain hadn't always been there. She held a notebook in her crossed arms. Mick helped her to the couch and pulled a chair close by.

"Can I get you anything?" She shook her head 'no', so he sat in the chair, leaning forward and placing a soothing hand on her shoulder. With his touch and soft eyes, along with just a bit of vampire allure he tried to reassurance her. "We're going to find him, Kelly, OK? I'm going to find him." She nodded, sniffed and wiped tears away with the back of her hand. "Why don't you tell me what happened? Start from the top."

After another shaky breath, she looked up at him. "We were – are – suppose to get married in three days. Everything's been going so well – the planning, I mean. We've been together since high school." She smiled at the memories that Mick could only imagine were going through her mind. "I even get along with his parents – they've been like a second family to me. I just… I don't know…"

Again, Mick rested a hand on her, lending his strength to her. Not enough to make her forget – he would never want to take that from her; to take her pain away would be to take HIM away and the love they had for each other. It would take away everything they were to each other. Mick simply wanted to help her work through her pain so she could tell him what he needed to know… so she could breathe and at least go on existing. "Take your time, Kelly." He sat there with her for several minutes as she collected herself and her thoughts.

After those few minutes, she stood and started pacing the office. Mick simply leaned back in his chair and watched her. Some people needed to do that; it made them feel like they were actually doing something. "On Monday, we were out doing things for the wedding – you know, approving arrangements, things like that. We'd been out all day and finally got home around supper time. We were so tired, so I ordered in some pizza, but before it got there, he got called in to work." Her eyes started to glisten with tears again, but she held them back. "He kissed me and apologized and went out and that was the last time I saw him."

Her pacing had taken her close to his desk, where she stopped. Mick stood and went to her once more though he didn't invade her personal space; he wanted her to feel safe here. "Have you received any strange phone calls since he went missing, or maybe just before?" Her long hair fell into her face as she shook her head 'no'. "Does he have any enemies? Anyone he's gotten into a fight with lately?"

Kelly's eyes went wide. "Oh, no! Everyone really seems to like him. He likes to help people. That's one reason why he became a journalist – he wanted to be able to get to he truth behind things. He thought it would be the best way."

A reporter… Mick thought about that for a moment. Beth was a reporter and she always seemed to be pissing off the wrong people. Perhaps Tom had gotten too close to something and he needed to be 'taken care of'. "Kelly, did Tom ever talk about the stories he was working on? Were any of them something that worried him?"

It was her turn to think now – she seemed to be mentally going through his assignments in her head, sorting them out and seeing if any fit the bill. Her brow was furrowed and she bit her lip in thought. Finally, she shook her head again.

"We only moved here a few months ago. He had a pretty good job before, but he's had to start at the bottom again. In LA it seems to be a lot harder to work up the ladder – too much competition and too many celebrity stories. Those are pretty much the only assignments he's been given. I think, though, that he HAS been working on something… but I don't know what. He always get kinda secretive if he was working on a really important story." She smiled slightly. "I don't mind though. I know he's only doing it to protect me."

Mick smiled in return. The look on her face – the love he could so clearly see shining in her eyes through those tears when she spoke of him, the way her lips twitched into a slight smile when she thought of him… Mick was certain, she did it without even knowing about it. It was clear they were very much in love. Any human would have been able to pick that up, and with Mick's vampire senses – his ability to sense her emotions so much more clearly, hear her pulse and her breathing, pick up the visual clues that were too subtle for human eyes… there was no denying it. Mick would make sure he did everything in his power to ensure the pain and fright that also marred her features was short-lived.

"Do you have his files, his notes, on any of these other stories?"

"No, he always kept everything at the office. But they've been very worried about him, too. I'm sure they'd let you see whatever you need."

"I'll do that, thank you. You said you just moved here?"

She sighed and then nodded. "We moved here eight months ago from North Dakota. Even though he's young, he'd pretty much gone as far as he could go as a journalist there. We moved here hoping he would be able to become even more successful. I mean, we don't need to be rich, but he's so good at what he does, he just wasn't being challenged in the middle of nowhere, you know? Turns out, moving here hasn't been any better."

Those tears finally started to fall silently down her cheeks. Mick took her hand, led her back to the couch and passed her a tissue. She whispered a thank you and dried her tears slowly. A country boy moving to the big city... Mick hoped this wasn't a case of lack of street smarts. He'd seen it so many times before. Maybe it would make him easier to track down; perhaps he still had that 'tourist' mindset. They almost always flocked to the same places. "I understand, and I'm sorry, but I have to ask: you're sure he didn't just get cold feet?"

"No!" She was angry with the question, but he could tell she wasn't angry at him. He knew she had to be sick of the questions, sick of the assumptions, but Mick wouldn't be much of a PI if he didn't explore all the options. "He's been so looking forward to finally getting married. We've been engaged since college, but he wanted to wait until he'd 'made it' before we got married. So he could really provide for a family." She managed a small chuckle. "He hasn't yet, but he wanted to finally make an 'honest woman' out of me. He's really close to his folks and they haven't heard from him either. They're coming out on Friday… for the wedding."

He stood and looked down at her. He placed a gentle hand on her should and smiled at her as she turned her glistening eyes toward him. He poured all the truth, all the commitment he possessed into his voice, his eyes and repeated his promise. "We'll find him, okay?"

She stood and wrapped her arms around him, finally letting her tears flow freely. "Thank you, Mr. St. John. Please, whatever it takes, whatever it costs… bring Tom home to me."

VvvV

Mick sat in the leather easy chair, an abandoned glass, half-full of blood on a nearby table. His eyes were closed, trying to relax, trying to work through this new case. Kelly had been gone about half an hour. After she'd calmed, he'd walked her over to his desk and taken down all the 'vital stats' for both she and Tom before she left. Then he'd gone straight to the kitchen and poured a drink, leaning against the island for a few moments as he sipped the thick liquid before finally moving to the chair he now occupied. There was something about this case that made it feel different from most. He hadn't quite figured out what.

Despite the thoughts, the case, running through his head, he broke into a smile. Beth was home. He felt her presence as she made her way down the hall. Through she was human, though he'd only fed from her that once in a bathtub in the middle of the desert, their connection was so strong it amazed him. It seemed it had always been that way. He often wondered if it was because of Coraline's, and therefore his, influence in her life as a child, or perhaps they'd always been destined to be together. He didn't know and frankly, it didn't matter to him. It was there and he couldn't imagine living without it now that he'd found it; didn't know how he'd lived without it before. But he had it – and he had HER. His life couldn't be any better.

The security system announced that she'd entered their apartment – he absolutely loved that he could call it THEIR apartment, THEIR home – but still he did not open his eyes. Her scent – her natural scent mixed with the subtle rose perfume she wore, so subtle in fact that most humans would miss it completely – drifted closer and closer to him. He could almost taste her. Her soft footsteps grew louder on the carpeted floor as she approached him. They both knew she could no more sneak up on him than an elephant could sneak up on her, but her silence as she entered, her shallow breathing as she tried to keep it even and quiet, her pounding heart – all told him that she'd seen his closed eyes and wanted to play at it. And he let her of course. He'd let her do anything she wished.

Finally, he could sense that she was next to him, felt the heat of her body warm his own from her closeness and hiss smile grew. Only another moment and his wait to feel her hands on him was over. She moved behind the chair and covered his already closed eyes. Her hair tickled his neck as she bent to whisper in his ear.

"Guess who."

He could feel the smile on her lips against his skin. He didn't answer at first, pretending to think hard about the question. "hmm. I think it must be an angel." She had called him her Guardian Angel so many times, but she was an angel to him as well. She'd saved him from himself, made him see he could do so much more than simply exist. Her soft laugh – filled with happiness and love and just a little bit of self-consciousness at the nickname – made its way to his ear as it always did during this game and he finally opened his eyes to darkness, his long lashes fluttering against the palm of her hand, making her giggle. The fact that Beth Turner giggled was a secret entrusted only to him and one that, on threat of staking, he kept safer than most state secrets. She pulled her hands away as he reached behind him to pull her around the chair and down into his lap where she finally greeted him 'properly' with a deep, lingering kiss.

"Mmm, hey Mick."

"Hey, yourself."

Mick ran his hand up and down her back soothing himself more than she. Their brief game had taken his mind off Kelly and Tom for a few minutes, but those thoughts quickly resurfaced. With Beth in his arms, he knew now why the case bothered him so. Kelly'd had the one person she loved more than anyone or anything else in the world torn from her… and despite his promise, there was to guarantee Mick would be able to bring him back. His grip on Beth tightened ever so slightly, but he looked up at her with a smile.

"How was your day?" He asked her that question every day. He'd gone almost his whole life not having anyone to ask that to.

"Oh, you know Maureen… still upset about the Brangilina thing. But there were two shootings at the WB studios today, so that's kept me out of the office. Hollywood and crime – keeps us both happy." She grinned and, with her arms wrapped around his neck, she twirled locks of his hair between her fingers. That grin faded, though only slightly. She may not be a vampire, may not be able to sense Mick's emotions as well as he could sense hers, but she KNEW Mick. Something was bothering him. "What about your day?" was all she asked.

He sighed and held her even closer, running his hands through her golden hair. "This new case… a woman came in today to see me. She's planning to get married in three days but her fiancé has gone missing. The cops won't do anything… they just think he got cold feet and ran off." He scowled in frustration.

Beth ran her hand along his cheek to soothe him and, as always, it worked. "But you don't think so?" He covered her hand with one of his own.

"God, I hope not. Beth if you saw her… you'd see how complete in love with him she is. She's devastated. If he did run off on her, I think it would crush her completely." He moved that hand to her own cheek, tracing his thumb across her jaw. "Beth if I ever lost you… I'd tear this city apart to find you and anyone who got in my way, if I could even think." His hand around her back tightened on her and it was only the almost silent hiss of pain that told him he was hurting her. "And it if was only days before we were to marry; days before I could declare you mine in front of everyone… Beth, I couldn't live without you."

Before she could say anything, he crushed his lips against hers – a possessive, desperate kiss. His hands tangled in her hair, holding her to him as she returned that kiss. He didn't want to let her go; didn't want that kiss to end, though he knew it must, if only to let her breathe. Through that kiss, he could feel her shock at his words. He'd kept many of those thoughts to himself over the time they'd been together. He'd never wanted Beth to have to feel the weight of his need for her, never wanted her to feel like she had to stay; but it was out now. He just hoped it wouldn't change anything.

Little did he know, that wasn't what had caused her shock. She knew all this without having to hear the words come from him. No, it was something else he'd said, something he hadn't even been aware he'd let slip. She broke their kiss and looked at him, amazed and cautious and just a little bit hopefully. "You want to marry me?"

He licked his bottom lip and sucked it between his teeth and looked at her with that sheepish hand-caught-in-the-cookie-jar lop-sided smirk. He brought his hand up and rubbed that lip with a thumb. Beth suppressed a laugh at all his nervous habits.

"Well… um... maybe?" She didn't' seem like the marrying type and that had always been fine with Mick. Sure he was a bit traditional at heart, but he was also a vampire and it wasn't the 1950's anymore. He wanted Beth. He needed Beth. He didn't care how he had her, as long as he did.

She grinned at him, giving off only excitement and happiness, perhaps a bit of nerves. She kissed him, hard and quick, and pulled back only enough to look in his eyes. When she spoke, her lips brushed against his. "When you make up your mind, let me know."

Mick looked at her, open-mouthed and he thought that maybe his inadvertent slip had been a good thing. Before he could do or say anything, she took advantage of him, tightening her arms around him and pressing herself even harder against him before taking his lips once more, exploring his mouth. Finally, he began to kiss her back. His hand moved down her back to her ass he lifted her, using his vampire skills that he knew she loved so much to easily walk them out of the room; Kelly and Tom completely out of his mind for the time being.

He kissed her forehead, running a hand along her jaw. "Don't worry about it, Beth." That smirk returned. "Now, where were we?" He rolled over so she was beneath him on the couch and kissed her. He started with her bare throat – still free of his marks – and kissed along her jaw to finally take her mouth, exploring as if it were the first time he'd kissed her – on his roof more than a year ago. As they kissed, breaking apart only enough so that she could breathe – that had taken some getting used to on his part – his hands slowly travelled down her sides and, his vampire abilities the only thing stropping him from falling on her and completely embarrassing himself. Just as slowly, he untucked her t-shirt from her pants. His thumbs slipped beneath the hem and teased her soft skin just above the waistband of her pants. She arched into his touch and his smile grew against her lips.

As her shirt started to travel further up her body, he broke their kiss and started to move down. Keeping his eyes on hers, his tongue and then his lips met the skin that he'd just uncovered. As her shirt moved up, his mouth followed and she rewarded him with sighs of pleasure. Her shirt was just about to expose her lace-covered breasts when some part of his brain registered the sound of his security system and someone coming through the door.

"Ah, there's my favourite couple! MickBeth, how do I love thee? Let me…" having seen his friends… otherwise occupied… he'd continued on into the apartment and was almost to the kitchen before he stopped and feigned thoughtfulness with a smirk. "No, wait, those are two different works, and it was MACBeth." He shot them a grin. "Forgive me; I got bored of Shakespeare two centuries ago. You know the only thing he was really good at was business? Just look at all the money he and his heirs made off those plays and sonnets and he hardly paid the REAL writer—"

"Josef is there a reason you're here?" While Josef had been rambling on, Mick had ensured Beth was 'decent', growling in annoyance and muttering about the manners of 400 year old vampires to which Beth had barely managed to stifle a laugh, though Mick could easily see she was annoyed as well. They now sat together in the corner of the couch. "I think I was pretty clear about the fact that Beth and I were going to have a relaxing night. ALONE."

Josef tossed a grin in Mick's direction as he continued to the kitchen and his friends' hidden fridge. "Of course you were, Mick. That's why I had to come over. Beth is entirely too good a person to be subjected to your boring excuse for entertainment." He grabbed the remote that happened to be on the counter and switched off the music, then moved the glasses and vases aside to get out the bottle of 'blood' – or at least what passed for blood at Mick's place. Getting a champagne flute from a nearby cupboard, he started to pour himself a drink. "Jazz? Seriously? You know that stuff wasn't even good when it was popular. Really, my friend, I thought you would have developed some taste by now."

"Josef!"

"What?" Satisfied with his drink, he replaced the bottle in the fridge and closed it, moving the glass items back to their places. He carried the glass over to the comfortable chair across from the couple and set his feet up on the table, taking a sip – and making a face – before continuing. "Telling me you're going to have a nice quiet night in with the lovely Miss Turner," he smiled at her, "and implying I'm not invited," now he gave a slight pout, "is like showing me a big red button and telling me not to push it. It's not going to happen, boy-o."

Mick rolled his eyes and sighed. It really was his own fault for confiding in his BEST friend, how excited he was for a whole night alone with Beth.

"Of course," Josef continued, "if you WOULD invite me along sometime, I'm sure I could teach you both a few things, spice up the bedroom a bit, hmm?" He waggled his eyebrows with that mischievous smirk.

"No!" Mick and Beth both yelled in unison.

Josef pouted even more, albeit through a smile. "Party poopers."

Just then, Beth's phone vibrated once more. With a loud sigh, she dealt with it again – checking the caller ID and then sending it to voicemail. As she did so, Mick glared at Josef. "Our bedroom is spicy enough." His brow furrowed at his own words and even Beth raised an eyebrow at him as she settled back against him. Growling under his breath, he again addressed Josef, repeating his earlier question. "Why are you here?"

Josef finally came, well, mostly clean. "I was in the neighbourhood? No, really, I was at some benefit at the mouse place and—"

Mick raised an eyebrow. "You mean the Disney Concert Hall?"

Josef waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anything named after an aging cartoon mouse, or any of its relatives, should not expect to be taken seriously… Mickey."

'Mickey's' eyebrow travelled higher and he pointed to the door. "Out."

"Aw, but we were just starting to have fun!"

"Out." Of course Mick wasn't upset with Josef… well, not completely. This was just the way his friend was – completely obnoxious. Normally Mick wouldn't have it any other way. Josef had been the only person to stick by him through everything, to at least try and understand him, even if he didn't agree with him. But tonight, he just wasn't interested in Josef's choice of 'entertainment'.

Josef made a show of being put out – letting out a long sigh, setting his glass on the table… for Mick to clean up, naturally – and stood, smoothing his tux jacket and fixing his bow tie as he did so. "I should leave anyway – I'm not hungry enough to settle for this vegan blood." He made his way to the door, opening it before turning back to the couple. "Later… Mickey. Have a good night, Daisy." He walked out into the hall, but against turned back to them before closing door. "And before you say anything, you're not nearly annoying enough to be Minnie and you're much too good for him. You belong with Donald." With a wink and yet another smirk, he was finally gone, leaving Mick and Beth to wonder just how many times Josef had watched Disney Cartoons.

VvvV

Josef had barely left when Beth's phone demanded her attention a third time. Frustrated, she'd picked it up and that time had finally decided to switch it off completely – which was what she SHOULD have done at the start of their night. This time, though, she saw that this time it was actually Maureen. She sighed again – in that last hour or so, it had seemed to become a habit. She looked at Mick apologetically and all he did was smile, kiss her quickly and nod, completely understanding. Completely… Mick. She smiled back at him and mouth an "I love you" as she stood and walked away from the couch to take the call. Even as she did so, she'd been able to feel him watching her as he lounged there waiting for her return. Even before Maureen started to talk, however, Beth knew she wouldn't be able to tonight, at least not until much later. She knew Mick had to know that as well. Sometimes she wished they could both quit their jobs to spend every moment together. But they couldn't. Not yet. They both loved their jobs too much; it was too much a part of who they were. She wondered if Mick had ever had those same thoughts…

That phone call had been two hours ago. Maureen had reamed her out for not returned people's calls; softening only slightly when she found out WHY Beth was 'hiding'… and a bit more when Beth pointed out that at least she answered HER call. Finally the order was given: come to the office; something 'juicy' was coming down the pipe-line.

'Juicy' happened to be waiting at Buzzwire for almost an hour before her sometimes-photographer-partner finally decided to show – the one, mind you, that had something so juicy, she'd called Beth twice before having Maureen track her down.

"Finally," she muttered under her breath as she started to walk toward the tardy brunette. "There you are, Morgan. What's the emergency? Maureen wouldn't tell me on the phone."

"Oh Beth, you're gonna love this!" Beth raised an eyebrow. Whenever anyone started a story pitch like that, she was usually sure to NOT love it. "It's got sex… scandal… what more could a girl want?"

"Oh, I don't know… crime, corruption and murder? C'mon Morgan, just tell me and let's get going. I… was in the middle of something."

Morgan started to lead her out of the office and toward her own car. It wasn't until they were in the car and pulling away from the building that Beth finally got her answer – through the fact that the answer didn't come until she had no way to escape it was another pretty big blue that she wasn't going to like this assignment.

When the answer came, Morgan was practically 'squeeing' with excitement. "So it turns out we've got another kink in the Brangelina story…" Beth groaned and leaned back in the passenger seat, wondering if she clicked her heels together three times she could wish herself back to her apartment… and Mick's arms. Wait, she didn't have ruby slippers… damn, she really needed a better paying job. "Yeah," Morgan continued. "It turns out Angelina and Jennifer have someone new in their lives – each other! Our task is to find out what Brad thinks about Angie's cheating ways. Of course, my money's on him orchestrating it. Threesomes are always hot, don't you think?"

Beth was quiet for several moments, though Morgan seemed to show no signs of really caring if Beth was interested in the story or not. "This is the story? THIS was so important that Maureen had to pull me away from my quiet night with my boyfriend? I'm a crime reporter, not a gossip columnist! Why could you have done this on your own, Morgan? Or with a report who actually LIKES these kinds of stories?"

"C'mon Beth, you're the best reporter Buzzwire has!" She spared a glance and a smile to Beth before concentrating on the road again. Beth did not give the same courtesy to the woman next to her. The compliments were nice, but they didn't really explain anything. Obviously Beth's silence was telling because Morgan continued. "Okay, okay, fine. The truth is, we haven't worked together for a while and I thought it was time we had some girl time together. You know, catch up?"

Beth again raised an eyebrow. "And you thought a fluff piece – worse than a fluff piece actually – was the way to go about it? We couldn't have just gone for coffee or something?"

Morgan shrugged. "Okay, so maybe it wasn't the best choice, but at least we get paid for this… and what's better than stalking Brad Pitt?"

Finally, she got a laugh from Beth and the blond looked over with a smile. "You know, a year or two ago I would have agreed with you, but Mick is SO much better than Brad Pitt. I'd rather stalk him." Of course, she left out the part about Mick essentially stalking HER since she was four. The other woman's smile changed slightly at Beth's girlish comment; unreadable.

Morgan pulled the car over to the side of the road. Dozens of other cars and vans and even more reporters and cameramen lined the street in front of the gated estate. Beth wrinkled her nose at the thought of joining the group – some of which she knew to be the worst of LA's paparazzi; another sigh as she pulled out her bag and stepped out of the car.

Morgan grabbed her gear out of the back seat and rounded the car to meet Beth on the other side. "Speaking of which, tell me all about Mick." She grinned, wide-eyed, as if thirsty for gossip. "Are you guys still going hot and heavy?"

Beth normally couldn't shut up about Mick, but tonight she didn't want to talk about him, she just wanted to get this damn story done so she could get BACK to him. She was about to reply to Morgan, however – though she wasn't' sure if it was 'dish', or to tell her to mind her own damn business. When they met up with the rest of the press, however, she could see they all looked pretty bored – not nearly as excited for such a 'huge' scoop as Morgan had been. "What's going on?"

One of the reporters recognized her and called her over. "Hey Beth, they've set up camp inside. We're waiting to catch sight of them." The reporter lowered his voice to a whisper. "Frankly, I don't think they're in there. I saw a car pull away from the back about half an hour ago. But 'sources' say they're in there and will come out to make a statement soon." He rolled his eyes. "And you know how the boss is." Beth nodded. She knew his boss; he was just like Maureen: if there was even a chance of getting the story, they had to stay on scene.

With a groan, Beth closed her eyes and leaned against the fence, settling in for the inevitable all-nighter.

Morgan smiled.


	3. Chapter 2

Padding quietly down the stairs, using vamp stealth to let Beth sleep as long as possible, Mick made his way to the kitchen. He started the coffee maker, using the expensive fair trade blend Beth liked, and poured himself a glass of blood from the hidden fridge. It wasn't long before the strong scent of the coffee hit him. Coffee in 2010 smelled so much better than it had in 1952. He was certain it would taste better, too. Of course, it might have something to do with the cost of the blend that he never would have been able to afford on his small salary back then. He leaned against the counter and brought the frosted glass to his lips, pausing for a moment and shaking his head before finally taking a drink.

As Josef entered the apartment, Mick just sighed. It was a damn good thing he didn't go around his apartment naked. He pulled down another glass and poured his friend a drink; considering how much he complained about Mick's diet, Josef sure 'ate over' often enough.

"You know, Joz'f, you have such 'excellent' timing. I'm surprised you don't have a tap on my security footage."

The vampire in question just smirked as he shut the door behind him and made his way over to Mick in the kitchen. "Who says I don't, buddy?"

Rolling his eyes, Mick handed the glass to the elder vampire. "And keep it down, Beth's still asleep."

Josef took the glass, took in the scent of the blood and wrinkled his nose – more to annoy his 'host' than anything else. "Wore the girl out, did you Mick? Good job, boy-o, I knew you could do it."

Mick looked up to the ceiling, as if asking for help from a high power, then looked back at the vampire across from him and took another drink from his glass. "Why are you here?"

Shaking his head slightly, Josef grinned in that smug way of his that pissed Mick off and made him laugh all at the same time. "Why do I ever come here?"

"To annoy me?"

"To enjoy your company! No, wait, that's not it. You're right, it's to annoy you." The men continued to trade jabs and snarky remarks – their own version of small talk – until Beth came down the stairs, fully dressed and putting on an earring to finish off her outfit.

"Hello Josef."

"Good evening, Beth. I think you get a gold star for looking practically perfect when you wake up. Perhaps you need to teach Mick over here a few things."

She just laughed as she arrived at Mick's side and leaned up to give him a quick, welcoming kiss. "Morning, Mick." It was seven o'clock in the evening, but saying good morning when she woke was still such a habit, even after changing her shift at Buzzwire and being on 'vamp time' for almost two months.

Mick returned that chaste 'morning' kiss and held her loosely in his arms, ignoring Josef and his barbs for the moment and still so completely amazed that she could kiss him while he was in the middle of 'breakfast'. "Good morning. Busy day, today?" He released her only to reach over and pour her a cup of coffee. She took the mug from him, wrapping her hands around it and closing her eyes to inhale its scent – much like a vampire Mick noticed – with a blissful look on her face.

"Mmm, perfect, thank you."

He sighed dramatically. "I knew you only loved me for my coffee."

"Of course, buddy, why else would she love you?" Josef injected himself into the little domestic scene as Beth laughed lightly and swatted Mick's arm.

After taking a sip of the dark liquid, Beth answered Mick's question. "Actually, yeah. I have some research to do and Maureen wants me to meet with a new source." She looked down at her watch and gasped. "I can't believe I slept so late!" Josef smirked at that but managed, to Mick's surprise, to keep any comments to himself, taking a drink to drain the glass and set it on the island in front of him. Beth leaned up to kiss Mick once more; this time it was a kiss goodbye. When she pulled away, Mick's hands tightened on her, not letting her go far and he pulled her back in for another, deeper kiss. Sure, Josef was standing right there, but he didn't care. He wouldn't see Beth again for hours and didn't want to pass on any chance to have her close to him. When he finally let her go, she gave him a radiant smile and downed the rest of her coffee.

"Bye Mick." She looked at Josef as she passed him, on her way to the door. "See you later, Josef."

He watched after her as she walked away from him. "Bye Beth. Be careful. I love you."

She turned back to him for a moment as she opened the door. "I will. I love you, too." Then she was gone and Mick stared at the door until he heard her get on the elevator but it was Josef's voice that actually brought him out of the trance, that impish grin on his face.

"You are positively smitten about that girl." His smiled softened. "It looks good on you."

When he looked back to him, Mick caught something unreadable in his friend's eye for a split second before it disappeared and he wondered what it was. "Thanks… I think. I never know with you." He finished of his glass of blood, rinsed it – dried blood was so very difficult to get off of the glasses – and set it in the sink.

"Now Joz'f, unless you came here with some sort of purpose, I need to get to work. Not all of us can afford to hire people to do all our work for us." He was grinning though and his best friend of fifty-plus years both knew it was simply a joke. Another tool in his arsenal to get the other riled up.

"Mick, Mick, Mick, we've gone over my purpose of being here already, keep up!" Just then, the ancient vampire's cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and smirked. "Well boy-o, guess I get to prove you wrong again. Work beckons."

"Huh, well, look at that. You DO do something besides ride me all the time." By this time, Mick was making his way to his office and was almost to the stairs.

"I haven't 'ridden' you, Mick, just ask some of the girls. They'll tell you." He waggled his eyebrows… and easily caught the pillow Mick tossed at him.

VvvV

Mick sat at the desk in his office and studied the computer screen in front of him. Thomas MacKay: 25, reporter for the LA Times – Entertainment Division. All of his published stories for the paper were pretty tame: celebrity news and gossip, but nothing over the top. It was all respectful – well, as respectful as one could be in the business – but he was no paparazzi; there was nothing that Mick could see in those stories that would make anyone upset enough to take matters into their own hands.

Though it was probably too far back to have any bearing on the present situation, he looked back to the stories he'd written in his previous job. The Grand Forks Herald was so small, most of the stories on the front page dealt with high school sports. Nevertheless, it was clear that for crime, corruption and other major stories, Tom had made a name for himself. Despite the nature of his stories and his popularity in the town, however, the stories were just that – small town corruption, petty crimes, the odd murder.

Mick had spent half the night Googling MacKay and he was no closer to an answer as to what had happened then when Kelly had left the previous night. No nasty comments on his stories, no threads on his Facebook wall or his Twitter account. He really did seem to be well-liked and, even though he was new to the area, well-respected.

The Internet was a good place to start, but no self-respecting Private Investigator would stop there. Perhaps Mick could have gotten lucky and found something that stood out, but he'd done the search, as he always did, to get a sense of what the man was like. Of course, he had the information that Kelly had given him, but his had shown him what the rest of the world – who weren't blinded by love – thought of him.

No, Mick hadn't even started… and he didn't intend of giving up so easily.

VvvV

Mick could have asked Kelly for keys to Tom's apartment, but if he were going to be honest with himself breaking in was just so much more fun. He had to take the little thrills that he could through the years. Of course, if Josef knew about… actually, Josef probably DID know about it. It would explain some of the jobs his friend had him do over the years. Of course, knowing Kelly was perfectly fine with him checking out Tom's apartment took SOME of the thrill out of it.

He let himself in and flipped on the lights and was immediately greeted with signs of a struggle. Magazines were strewn across the living room floor; the television was slightly askew on its stand. A baseball bat lay in the middle of the room. A wooden bar stool was knocked over. In the kitchen, a plate of half-eaten food, to which Mick's sensitive nose turned up at, sat on the counter as if he'd been in a hurry to leave – or had been interrupted.

On closer inspection, however, things just didn't add up. More dishes lay in the sink. A bundle of, from the smell of it, dirty clothes lay in the corner of the kitchen and more out in the living room. Mick raised an eyebrow and his lips parted slightly in surprise. He took in the scent of the room, but felt no signs of shock or fear; he saw no glimpses of danger. It could be that it had happened too long ago, but Mick had a better theory. There was no struggle here and if there had been, it was impossible to figure out through the more obvious signs of a bachelor.

"Kelly must really love him to put with THIS," he muttered to himself. Either that or he must really love her to try and change. Mick wasn't discoursed yet, however. There was still a lot he might be able to learn from the apartment After all, if every case was so easily solved, he would have tired of the job decades ago.

Walking over to the phone, he saw there was a message – wasn't there always message? – and played it while searching for the inevitable 'junk' drawer' everyone had in their kitchen – the one you tossed dead batteries and shopping lists, part to things and keys without locks, or locks without keys and anything else that otherwise didn't have a place.

_You have… three… new messages. _Not a lot for a reporter, but then, everyone used their cell phone these days. Mick supposed he should be surprised there were any at all. _Message…one…_

"_Mr. MacKay, I have the information you requested. You know where to meet me if you want to pursue this further."_

Well, if that wasn't a clue, Mick didn't know what was. Which was good because the junk drawer had nothing; it seemed to be the cleanest place in the whole apartment. He took down the caller information and then leaned against the wall as he listed to the last two. They were from Kelly.

"_Tommy? Are you there? I've been trying your phone and even called work but can't get a hold of you. Is your phone dead? Call me."_

_Beeep. Message… three._

"_Tom, are you there? I'm getting really worried – no one knows where you are. PLEASE call me."_

Even on the machine, Mick could hear her distress. He HAD to find him. He pushed off the wall and finished searching the kitchen – checking all the cupboards, behind all the appliances then moved on to the living room, repeating his actions there.

Next was the bathroom; nothing there, not even in the toilet tank. It was beginning to look like Kelly was right – if Tom WAS working on something, he hadn't brought it home… or if he had, someone had found it before Mick. There was one room left to check, though.

As Mick opened the door to Tom's bedroom, he stopped, mouth agape, shocked for the second time since entering this man's home. The bedroom was spotless; bed neatly made, laundry in the laundry basket, nothing hanging out of drawers or closets. It could have been a show room… except for the garment bag hanging from a hook behind the door. For some reason, he needed to look inside, even though he could tell by how it hung that there were no files hiding inside.

What WAS inside was a neatly pressed black tux. He hadn't got much off the apartment as a whole, but he did from the outfit in front of him; whether it was because it had been sealed in that bag or because the emotions were simply so strong, he didn't know. He closed his eyes and saw Tom at the store fitting, looking at his friend in mirror. The friend was looking quite amused at his obvious excitement. Mick saw him smooth down the fabric of his jacket. His grin was wide and exuded joy, nervousness and maybe a bit of fear… mostly excitement and anticipation. Soon he'd be marrying the love of his life and his life would be perfect.

Mick opened his eyes and touched the expensive fabric, probably more expensive than Tom could really afford, in much the same way Tom had in his vision. He saw himself in Tom's place for a moment, with Josef standing behind him, ready to spout off with some snarky comment about settling down – with a human no less! Mick would share many of the same feelings as Tom and he knew he would feel them all so much more intensely than he had the first time he'd married. Beth was his TRUE soul mate, the one that he was meant to be with, the reason everything else in his almost 90 years had happened – to bring him to her. He'd slipped up the other day when he was talking to Beth – an unconscious mention of marriage that he'd stumbled over after the fact, trying to back track. Now, holding the tux that this man would where at his wedding, picturing himself in one of his own… he knew he wanted to marry Beth. Whether she wanted to grow old and die at his side of if she would eventually want to be turned and be with him for eternity he didn't care – though he had a preference of course – he just wanted to be with her for as long as he possibly could. He only hoped she would say 'yes'. They'd had a hard road to get where they were and though Beth had been overjoyed and eager to move in with him, she was a very independent person. Mick nevertheless committed himself to asking her. This wasn't something he could keep to himself anyway.

Finally, he shook himself from his thoughts. He was working a case; a very important one. He had to get Tom back for his wedding. Besides, the faster he solved this case, the faster he could concentrate on how he was going to propose to His Beth.


	4. Interlude

I'm in love.

I don't know much of anything else, but I remember this. I KNOW it to be true in the very depths of my soul. I don't remember her name, or our history or even who *I* am, but I remember that I love her and she loves me. I think… we were going to be married. Or perhaps we already are? I remember seeing her – an Angel in her wedding dress, locks of… blond? Brunette?... hair tumble across her shoulders, She smiles at me as her eyes lock on mine…

I'm in love.

Since the thought came to me, I've repeated it over and over, trying to use it as a springboard to dive into the rest of my memories… to figure out who I am, where I am, and how to get out. I'm not sure if it's working or if I'm naturally just coming out of… whatever this is, but I'm more aware of my surroundings. I can hear voices. I feel like I should know them… or some of them. But I can't place them and I can only pick out a few words.

"Dangerous… keep going… have to… almost ready."

I'm able to feel a soft touch against my face, it feels familiar. I need to see who it belongs to and I pour all my energy into opening my eyes – I'm aware enough to know that that's what I need to do.

A miracle! Bright, blurred images; a flash of dark before the lights hurt my eyes too much and I close them again, frustrated with my failure. Please help me! I scream it, but somehow know that it never made it out of my mouth.

"Quick… back under… soon."

Then I feel that familiar sting… the nausea. The darkness seems to get even darker and I feel heavy.

Then nothing.


	5. Chapter 3

Mick opened the door of his Mercedes and held out his hand. Beth grinned and took it, allowing him to help her out. He knew he didn't need to it and something told him – not Beth of course – that had any other man tried to do these things for her, she would have brushed him off with a huff. He grinned back at her and pulled her to her feet, closing the door behind her as he held her close.

The scent of the salt and sea, the popcorn and hot dogs all wafted toward Mick as he and Beth looked over to the lights shining from the Santa Monica Pier. He could feel the excitement and joy, the competitiveness and the love of those who were there for the same reason as Mick and His Beth. His grinned broadened as he heard a particularly terrified scream pierce the air from the rollercoaster; a squeal of laughter balanced it out. Beth looked positively radiant in the silver moonlight, eager to begin their night.

Sure he should be working the case, but since he and Beth had gotten together, his priorities had changed. NOTHING was more important to him than His Beth. That didn't' mean he let his work slip; he simply did things a bit differently. He loosened his grip, his control on things, more. Logan was now practically a part-time employee. Instead of passing the odd case to him – cases that needed the skills of a hacker instead of just a PI and his databases – Mick sent all his searches, aside from the initial get-to-know-the-mark searches, to the basement-dwelling vampire. Now he was just waiting to get the information back from Logan before he took his next step. Besides, he and Beth had this night planned long before Kelly walked through is door and he never cancelled on Beth.

After she'd looked around for a moment, she turned a curious gaze to him as he began to lead her away from the car and toward the pier. Mick simply couldn't wipe his grin from his face. Not that he wanted – Beth had that effect on him.

"What?"

She looked sheepish for a moment, looking away for a split second before returning to meet his eyes. "I'm still surprised you wanted to come here. I mean, I just never pictured you as an amusement park kind of guy."

Mick laughed; not at her assessment of him, but of his own memories. "I loved to come here as a kid. It was always a treat –" His grin faltered, but that lasted even shorter than Beth's chagrin. "I… hadn't really been in a position, or had any interest in going for… a few years… until now" to prove his point, he leaned down to place a quick kiss on her lips, his arm around her back holding her close as they walked up the ramp.

She smiled at him as their lips parted. "I can't wait." And he knew her too well; knew it was true not just because of what he'd said, not just because she wanted to give him back something he hadn't had since he was human. She was mostly looking forward to fun night out with the man she loved, that loved her. Though he made her laugh, though she loved him completely, they didn't often do 'fun' thing together – or at all, really. They weren't a 'normal' couple who did 'normal' things – not surprising when she was stubborn crime-reporting human and he was… a stubborn crime-fighting vampire. Any opportunity to pretend to – or actually BE – normal she would happily seize. Any opportunity to be with Mick even more so.

Then a thought occurred to her and she furrowed brow married her beautiful face. "But it's past midnight; a lot of things will be closing down for the night."

He just flashed her a lopsided grin. "Trust me."

"Okay. Always."

They stepped onto the pier proper and into the throng of people and Mick held her close. At first, they took their time walking along the pier, just taking in the sights and the sounds and smells of Santa Monica Pier; feeling the warm night sea air drift over them. Just as every 'normal' date at an amusement park should start, they stopped to load Beth up on food. It was only now that Mick was a vampire that he wondered why humans filled themselves up on food… and then went to ride roller coasters and other vomit-inducing rides. Of course, when he'd BEEN one, it had seemed perfectly natural. It was interesting how being on the outside of something completely changed one's perception. As they sat on a park bench and Beth chowed down on a large hot dog, he watched her – of course, he always watched her… it was how their relationship had started after all. She was so full of life, and though she knew the dangers of his world, of the world in general – what went bump in the night; she was still so carefree, still LOVED life. It made her radiant.

Of course, at the moment, he could tell she was really loving that hot dog. Even when he'd been a child he remembered the food on the pier tasted better than anywhere else, even if he couldn't remember exactly what it tasted like. "Is it good?" She grinned around the large bite and nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

After gobbling down the rest of it, she looked at Mick with a grin. "Now I need cotton candy… or a candied apple… something with sugar." Mick chuckled, glad she was already having fun… since he'd secretly second guessed – and more – whether or not this had just been a silly idea.

"Whatever you want, Beth." He lifted a thumb to wipe away a spot of ketchup from the corner of her mouth, so much like a stray drop of blood.

That grin of hers turned into a playful smirk. "That could be dangerous." To prove her point, her tongue snaked out to taste his thumb before he pulled it away. Then, just as quickly, she was on her feet and pulling Mick off the bench. He didn't need much convincing to follow and when she was once again nestled beside him with his arm around her, they started off again – in the direction of the cotton candy stand which was just about to shut down when they arrived. All Mick had to do was, as Beth had said in the past, turn on the Mick St. John charm and the young woman was whipping up a multi-coloured treat for Beth… and looking very upset that the handsome man in front of her wasn't buying it for HER. Mick thanked her, paid her, including a generous tip, and the couple were on their way again. Beth pulled off a large piece of 'cotton' and popped it into her mouth, smiling at the taste and the sensation of it melting in her mouth. Mick watched as she savoured the treat, guessing by her reaction that it had been a while since she'd had any. And he knew it had been awhile since she'd had as much fun as she seemed to be having now.

For that, he was happy he had decided to go through with this idea, and he vowed to 'make' her have fun much more often in the future. He stopped them in the middle of the boardwalk. Most of the attractions were in the process of shutting down for the night, if they hadn't already, and Mick ignored those people who walked around them on their way off of the pier. He took the cotton candy from her and as he locked his eyes on hers, he pulled another piece off the mountain of spun sugar and brought it to her open, ready mouth. He couldn't experience the confection as she could anymore, but he could experience HER and experience the world through her. Again her tongue peaked out, this time to take in the candy he offered, and accidently-on-purpose wrapped it around his fingers more than the fluff. Smiling as she did so, she slowly took it from him. Once it, too, melted, she smirked and licked her lips, obviously enjoying his hard swallow and desire-filled eyes. As he recovered from her little show, he pulled his fingers back, rubbing them together for a moment.

"Beth, you are going to get so sticky eating that."

She took another piece from the cone Mick still held and popped it into her mouth. "But Mick, I think you like it when I'm all sticky." With that, she sashayed off, leaving Mick standing there, growling under his breath with desire before he turned to follow her with a smile of his own. She wasn't lying of course.

He easily caught up to her as they approached the arcade, a slight pout on her face when she saw it was closed. Putting his arms around her as he stepped behind her, and with a smile on his face, he knocked loudly on the door. Before she could question him, the door opened cautiously. Mick shook the man's hand and introduced himself.

"Mick St. John."

"Ah yes, Mr. St. John! Come in." The arcade attendant stepped aside so they could enter the building and then quickly locked up behind them. "It's a pleasure to meet you both." His voice lowered to a whisper, though it was useless as Beth was still wrapped in Mick's arms. "I think it's really nice what you're doing. Not many guys would do this for their girls, even ones as nice as yours." He raised his voice to a normal level again to properly address them both.

"You two kids have fun." Mick was easily twice the age of the attendant, but of course he let the comment pass. "I'll be in the back if you need anything." Mick nodded and once the other man had disappeared, he turned Beth around in his arms so he could look into her eyes.

"So… what first?"

V—V

By the time they left the arcade, Mick had Beth wrapped in one arm… and a giant tiger – almost the same size as Beth, though much less cooperative – in the other. Beth carried a few other, smaller, prizes in her hands and the cotton candy was gone. Yes, she'd gotten very sticky… but Mick had helped her clean up.

"You cheated!" She accused him – through a grin and barely containing a laugh. He pretended to look hurt.

"It's not MY fault! Besides, I though you liked my 'sexy vampire skills'?"

Beth moved in front of him, stopping them both in their tracks. Somehow, around the stuffed animals, she managed to reach up to kiss him quickly, though passionately, proving just how much she liked his talents – especially the jumping thing, and how he could so easily carry her upstairs, his endurance, not needing to breath, oh and—

"How about we head over to the Ferris wheel?" The smirk on his face as he pulled her from her thoughts showed that he knew EXACTLY where those thoughts were headed. She blushed at being caught, but nodded and moved back to his side.

"Should we take these back to the car, first?"

Mick shook his head. "I'm pretty sure the size of the stuffed animal is suppose to prove how much I love you – though they don't have one big enough for that. How am I to prove that to all these people unless we're carrying them?"

They burst out into laughter at the same. Mick's love for her could never be questioned. He was completely, totally, in love with her and she him. That was clear to anyone who saw the two of them together, vampire or human, stuffed animals in hand or not. It had been clear to everyone even before it was clear to THEM. Despite his words he did steer them back in the direction they'd come, to do as she'd suggested and get rid of their prizes. He had no idea where in the apartment they would go – especially the tiger – and he was sure to receive plenty of ribbing from Josef the moment the older vampire saw them. Mick didn't care. He'd had more fun tonight than he could ever remember having and knew Beth had as well. That was all that mattered to him; and the night was far from over.

As Mick looked down at her, he thought back to that vision he'd had of him in a tux; Josef behind him. Now he saw His Beth walking down a flower-lined church aisle toward him, dressed in dazzling white. In a few moments, in that vision, she would become his wife. He would have the wedding – and the wedding night – he'd always wished he'd had and it would be with someone at his side who loved him unconditionally.

He wondered if this was a glimpse of the future, or simply a dream. God, he hoped it wasn't just a dream. He wanted it to be the truth more than he'd wanted anything else. As he looked in her eyes now, he wanted to ask her. He stopped himself. He wanted everything to be perfect when he asked her. They may have been in the perfect setting, but he didn't have the perfect ring, or the perfect words… and what if she said no?

Of course if she did, it wouldn't change how he felt about her. And some tiny part of his brain tried to tell him to just ask her already – it didn't have to be a fairy tale proposal. They loved each other and that was enough. But this was Beth. HIS Beth. Even though it didn't HAVE to be 'perfect', he wanted it to be. He must have been starting too long or too hard, because her voice broke through his thoughts.

"Mick? Is something wrong?"

He smiled, reassuring her, and shook his head. "I love you." He drew her in for a slow kiss, filled with all of that love.

Once their arms were free again, they began to walk away from the car. Mick obviously wasn't ready to end their night, which suited Beth just fine. She wished the night would never have to end. Of course it would, so she vowed to take advantage of every moment until then. They took a circular route back to the pier, walking along the beach first. She made him stop as they reached the sand and she slipped off her sandals. With her schedule, she so rarely got to walk on the beach and even less so with Mick. She wanted to savour everything. The breeze was light, but still tugged slightly at her blond hair; the surf lapped at the beach not far from where they walked and the sand was soft and cool between her toes. She and Mick walked wrapped in each other's arms, enjoying the 'silence', enjoying the company. Mick always made her happy, but there was something different about tonight, something electric. The looks he kept giving her – that unreadable expression – made her want to drag him home and spend the night engaged in other activities, though she restrained herself. Tonight was already perfect and she was interested in seeing what else the man at her side had up his sleeve.

It was a while before that question was answered, though, as they strolled slowly along the beach and then the boardwalk. When they 'finally' – though she really wasn't in any rush – reached the Ferris wheel Mick had seemed so eager to visit earlier, it too was, of course, closed. This time, the ride attendant appeared before Mick could do anything. Exactly how much was this date costing him? As if hearing her thoughts, Mick ran his hand along her arm and suddenly she didn't really care about the money.

"Mr. St. John?" Mick nodded. "Oh good, I thought I missed you."

Again, Mick nodded once, this time looking a bit chagrined, biting his bottom lip for a moment. "Yeah, sorry about that. We got… distracted."

The attendant flashed them both a broad grin, looking over at Beth and then back to Mick with a wink. "Totally understandable." He stepped aside to allow them to enter the ride area. "Ready?"

Mick helped her into the seat and within minutes they started to travel high above the water, high above any passersby and the sounds of the traffic below. The lights of the city stretched out forever, as did the blackness of the sea. It was a beautiful contradiction. Not as beautiful as the feeling of Mick's arms around her, holding her close. She loved the feel of his hard body next to hers, his strong arms around her, his hands on her skin. She turned and looked up at him, to see his hazel eyes locked on her form and she wished for the briefest of moments that she could see him in the dark as well as he could see her.

"Thank you for tonight, Mick. It's been perfect."

"Thank YOU, Beth. But you know, it's not over yet."

"Somehow, I thought you might say that. Any chance of telling me what you have planned next?"

"That would be telling, but you may be able to… persuade me." Beth just smirked and her hand went around his neck, tangling in his locks as she drew him down to her, locking her lips with his, pouring her love and desire for him into that kiss; quickly forgetting the view… or what she was suppose to be persuading him of.


	6. Chapter 4

Mick still had a small grin on his face from his perfect date with Beth the night before. The only reason it was a 'small grin' was because he was working 'The Case of the Missing Fiancé" and trying to at least pretend to be professional. Tonight was the night for tracking down all his leads – and hoping they led to Tom, or at least MORE leads. Well, the few leads he had at the moment; Logan's reports still hadn't come in when he'd woken earlier, which was unusual.

First stop: The LA Times. It was no Buzzwire, and it took going through several people before he was finally led to Tom's cubicle. He could have called ahead of course, but that would have given any potential suspects more time to catch on to his investigation and remove any evidence.

Mick sat in Tom's chair at his desk and simply looked around for a few moments, getting a 'feel' for the place. It was much different than his apartment. Everything was neat and orderly and in its place. There were a few toys along the back of the shelf – distractions, inspirations, both depending on the situation and several photos, both framed on the desk and attached to the cubicle wall. Some were just of Kelly, others were of them both, in various poses and locations, but in all of them they shared the same look of love and devotion. Why was it that the happiest couples were torn apart and the train wrecked relationships were doomed to last, oh, 33 years or more? He switched on the computer monitor – and was met with a log in screen. Of course. He tried a couple of passwords, but stopped before trying a third – many systems would lock a user out after three failed attempts. He sat back in the comfortable chair and rubbed his chin as he thought about what the password could be.

"I hear you're looking for Tom." Mick looked up to see a woman peering around the cubicle wall. Always the gentleman, he stood and nodded.

"I am. Did you know him well?"

She shrugged. "My cubicle is right there." She pointed to the cubicle directly across from Tom's. "We were friends, I guess. As much as you can be with someone in this place. It's so busy here and everyone is competing against each other. Tom's different, though. We all know he wants to get to the top but… he's nice about it, you know?"

Mick smiled and she stuck out her hand. "Anyway, I'm Kate."

He could almost see the 'and I'm single' in her eyes. At least she would be helpful. "Nice to meet you, Kate. I'm Mick." The look on her face told him that she definitely wanted to know more about him than just his name.

"Do you know anything yet? I mean, I didn't even know he was missing until I heard there was a PI here."

He finally sat back in the chair, shaking his head. "I'm still tracking down some initial leads. You didn't know he was missing? Does he usually not show up to work, or does he work somewhere else?" Kelly said he never brought his work home with him, but perhaps he had another office or apartment somewhere.

Kate stepped into the cubicle and leaned against the desk. "Oh no, nothing like that. I know he's getting married this weekend, I figured he took the week off work. He was really involved in the wedding planning and all that." She picked up a photo of the couple and as Mick watched her looking at it, hed searched for signs of jealousy. Did she want him all to herself? Did she want him enough to be involved with his disappearance? Mick felt none of that coming from her.

"They're so in love – it's nice to see that still exists. Especially here in Los Angeles." Mick suppressed a smile as he thought of feeling for Beth. "Kelly must be just beside herself with worry." She set the photo back on the desk and as she did so, she noticed the computer screen.

"Are you trying to get into his files?"

Mick nodded. "But I'm on my third password attempt."

She grinned. "Oh, that's easy! i3Ke11y."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, sure. See?" She bent across him – a bit too close to not be flirting – typing the password quickly and with a press of the Enter key, they were both greeted by yet another photo of Tom and Kelly. Kate laughed and sat on the edge of the desk, her knee barely an inch from Mick's.

"How did you k now that?"

"Kelly was here the day the system made him change his password."

Mick chuckled. That explained it; it definitely didn't seem like a password a man would come up with. "Did he talk to you about any of the stories he was working on?"

"Definitely not! I mean, I'm quite happy staying in entertainment, but he wanted out and so did some others; there was always the chance someone would overhear. I know he was working on something big, but I don't know what. Anyway, I'll let you get to work. I hope you find him. If you need anything else, just let me know… I'm right over there." Again she pointed to her work space. Mick smiled and thanked her. When he was finally alone again, he turned to the computer and got to work.

Email, files, browser history; he searched through it all. Email to and from Kelly, internal memos, celebrity story updates and tips – all regular things one would find in the email of an entertainment reporter. His calendar was completely empty aside from a few emailed meeting requests. Obviously that was all in his phone or organizer. Mick sighed. Portable devices were great but really made his job more difficult sometimes.

His files were pretty clean. There didn't seem to be anything that looked out of place, considering what he knew of the man's work and personal life. Forms, correspondence… aside from a few unfinished gossip pieces, the only stories on his computer were the ones he'd published and Mick had already read. One of the stories was the same Brad Pitt story Beth had worked on. Nothing raised any red flags in Mick's mind. If Tom was working on something else like everyone seemed to think he was, he was being really careful about it – or just really paranoid. Perhaps he just wanted everyone to THINK he was working on something big – perhaps he thought it would help him rise through the ranks faster.

Another hour of thoroughly searching the small space brought up more nothing. Tom was really beginning to frustrate him. He was also making Mick wonder if he HAD run off on purpose. IF Tom were working on something, maybe he was getting too close. If someone hadn't gotten to him already, maybe he had taken all his work and gone into hiding to protect Kelly. It was a possibility, but as Mick thought through it all, he didn't think it was the answer. He could only hope Logan would hurry and come through with his reports. Hopefully that would give him somewhere to look.

VvvV

Mick pulled up to the police station and switched his phone to his other hand as he put the car into 'park', shut the engine down and shoved the keys in his pocket.

"What's taking so long, Logan?" It was almost dawn and he still hadn't received anything from the basement-dwelling vampire.

"I'm sorry Mick, I've been swamped!"

"Trying to beat the expert level in Guitar Hero doesn't count."

"That's not ALL I do, Mick."

"Whatever. What am I paying you for, anyway? I could have done it myself already AND gone out with Beth last night."

"I'll get on it right now." Mick could hear the younger vamp's fingers flying furiously over the keyboard.

"Good. I need the info like, yesterday." There was a threatening growl that Mick didn't even try to hide. He heard the keys on the other end of the phone stop clicking, but there was a pause before Logan spoke.

"Mick… What's up with you and this case? I mean, even when we talked yesterday… you seem way more intense about it than you usually do."

Mick sighed and ran his hand across his face. "I don't know, Logan. There's just something about this one… I don't know if it's because I can relate to the couple, or if it's just something about the case as a whole that I haven't figured out yet. I just… I don't know." He paused for a moment. "Just get on that for me. Text me his last known location ASAP and email everything else to me." He could almost hear Logan nod as the clicking resumed and Mick ended the call without another word.

Exiting the Mercedes, he locked it behind him – not that it really mattered with the top down – and quickly and easily climbed the steps to enter the station. The staff in the front of the station, as usual, looked overworked. Stacks of papers filled even the receptionists desks, people worked furiously on their computers and those that weren't were taking statements and processing suspects. All of the waiting area chairs were filled with people who looked tired, angry, worried, or all three, so Mick leaned against the edge of the reception counter to wait his turn. Business may be slow for him and Beth this week, but it never was for the police.

Mick waited patiently for almost half an hour before someone was finally able to help him. Well, he LOOKED like was waiting patiently. Really, he was mentally twiddling his thumbs and urging them to hurry up already. It was almost dawn. He wanted to get home to his freezer, he wanted a break on the case, but mostly, he just wanted to get home to Beth again.

"Hello, Sir. Can I help you?" FINALLY, Mick thought, and he pushed off of the counter to move down and face the man who was trying his best to be cheery and helpful, but mostly just looked like he, too, wanted to get the hell home. Mick surveyed him quickly; middle-aged man with a neatly pressed uniform, ring, a frame on his desk. Yeah, buddy wanted his shift over to get home in time to see his family before THEY went off to school and work. Mick could certainly sympathize.

"I won't take much of your time. My name's Mick St. John." Being in a police station, he didn't wait to be asked before showing his credentials. "I'm a private investigator hired to look into the disappearance of Thomas MacKay. I was hoping to get any information the police would be willing to share on the missing person's chase, or better yet, speak to the officer in charge." A few taps of the keyboard and the man had Tom's file up on the screen.

"There's not much here, Mr. St. John, but I do have the name of the officer in charger – Winston. He'll be in in about," he looked up at the clock. "fifteen or so."

"Thanks. Can you tell me the status of the case?"

He looked down at the screen again. "It was only active for about a day. Winston closed it himself; literally an open and shut case. Says here it was obvious the guy just left. Probably back home."

Mick nodded, mostly to himself. Hanging around to talk to this officer would be a waste of time; he obviously didn't have a very open mind. "Thank you. Have a great morning." He stepped away from the desk, thinking to himself that the trip had been a complete waste of time.

For the moment, he had nothing else to do, so he sat in a newly vacant chair and waited. He'd wait for this officer to show and talk to him if he could, but hopefully he'd be getting that damn text from Logan any minute now. As if on cue, the phone in his pocket buzzed and he pulled it out to find an address sent from the other vampire. Finally, a break. He knew following this new lead would get him closer to Tom than talking to some aging cop who probably lost all passion for his work years ago, so he got up and quickly headed to his car. Hopefully he'd be able to check it out and get home to Beth before she fell asleep.

VvvV

According to Logan, the last place he was able to track Tom to was a pay phone downtown when he'd called Kelly's apartment, the time on the call made Mick think he'd gotten her voice mail and not left a message. Why would he have called her in the middle of the night and then not left a message? He recalled the message on Tom's own phone as he pulled up to the phone Booth in question. Was this the meeting the anonymous collar had talked about? But why had he used the pay phone and not his cell? So far, only more questions. He slipped on his shades to help protect him from the rising sun and stepped out of the car.

His first destination was, of course, the phone. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Closing his eyes, he took in the scent of the small space. It was a public space, so many scents and people overlaid the area since tome would have been here. He tried to ignore the actual smells – urine, sex, dirt, alcohol – and concentrated on the emotions, hoping he would be able topic up something through the time and contamination that had settled over the place. Mick hope that, if this really WAS the last place Tom had been, there might be a spike of emotion that had been missing from the apartment that would linger, waiting for Mick to pick it up. And finally he found it.

Triumph and fear and resignation. Soon the visual materialized for him and he opened his eyes as if to watch the past play out in front of him. Tom ran to the phone, all the while checking behind him and around him. He dialed the phone – calling Kelly, Mick thought – but as the call connected, Mick could see Tom second guess that decision and he hung his head in defeat as he replaced the receiver. He watched as Tom looked around and then ran to an alley dumpster. With a curious look on his face, Mick watched as he stuffed a messenger behind it. He turned to leave, but before he even made it out of the alley, his eyes went wide with surprise and Mick's vision ended.

Whether that was because that was all there was to see, or for some other reason, Mick would never know, because Mick had crumpled, unconscious, to the grown.

VvvV

_For the first time, I feel like I can think. I don't feel like I'm suffocating under some foggy weight. I know who I am. I don't know why I'm here or what happened to me, but I remember everything else. I remember HER. I remember how I feel about her, the joy I felt the last time I saw her._

_The room is cold. I hear machines beeping and whirring in the background. It feels like there's someone else in the room, though I'm not sure how I know that. I want to wake up. I want to finally see where I am and find out what happened. I was attacked, that much I know, though I don't know the specifics. I know my last thought was of her. Is she here? Is she safe? I can't remember. I need to find her, to feel her, to see her and know she's okay._

_It seems to take more effort than it should, but I try and open my eyes. They flutter a few times and I wince against that bright light, but this time I manage to do it. My eyes are open and I look around, trying to figure it all out. Bright ceiling, sunlight streaming through windows and in spilling across the bed and warms me even through the sheets that cover me, large machines off to the side… and her._

_My eyes settle on her – long brown hair falling across her shoulders and a wide, warm smile when she realizes I'm awake. I close my eyes, just for a moment, to savour that I am, actually, awake; that she's here and she's safe._

V—V

She sat in an easy chair, right next to the bed he lay in. Finally she had him back. It had seemed like an eternity since she'd been without him. When you're torn from the person you love, from the person you planned to spend the rest of your life with, it WAS eternity. She'd been worried she'd lost him forever, but here he was. She traced a hand across his cheek as he continued to sleep – just as he had for the last three weeks while they treated him. Today they would bring him out of it. She would have him back again; her love, her life.

Through this whole ordeal, she'd somehow been patient and excited and anxious all at the same time. She couldn't wait until he was back on his feet… until they could finally get back to the lives they'd been looking forward to living together… back to normal.

He began to stir and her heart began to race. She leaned forward and her hand continued to trace carefully along his arm. His eyes fluttered and his long lashes finally revealed his beautiful hazel eyes. They settled on her and then closed briefly but she could see it was only from relief.

They opened again, and even though he'd been unconscious for three weeks, he looked at her like he always did and he smiled, licking his dry, bottom lip. She caressed his face again, unshed tears in her eyes that he was finally back with her. She sighed his name… "Mick."

"Coraline…"


	7. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: Just a bit of clarification, in case it's not clear and you get all confused... (though I was going for a bit of make-the-reader-as-confused-as-Mick I may have gone a bit too far) Mick's been unconscious, with Coraline, for three WEEKS, BUT she's telling him he's been there for three MONTHS. You know, just to make everything more confusing :S _

**Chapter 5**

Cynthia Davis stood in the doorway to the room where Mick had lain for three weeks. Coraline was dutifully watching over him as she had each day. Some nights, Cynthia had even had to force her to go to bed. They had brought Mick home after the attack; Coraline insisted they come here even though Cynthia hadn't thought it a good idea. Coraline had been adamant, thought, arguing Mick would be more comfortable here, that being around a place he knew well would aide in his… recovery. While that may have been true, to Cynthia the risks seem to outweigh the benefits. Of course, it didn't matter; even if Coraline WASN'T the type to always get what she wanted, Cynthia would do anything for her HAD DONE anything for her. And she always would. Even she wasn't sure if she truly felt that way or if it was her jealousy of Mick – for taking Coraline, her best, her only friend, her sister – from her.

She watched as Mick began to stir. They'd been keeping him under this whole time, but today they'd finally taken him off the sedative. They'd all argued, from their various areas of expertise, that it was time. Coraline seemed to come alive – more than she already was of course – as he woke. Her eyes widened and her smile grew. Cynthia watched her lean forward and touch him. Despite her own thoughts on the matter, Cynthia could plainly see, feel, the love Coraline felt for him. AS he looked around the room in confusion, and then at the woman at this side, she knew he had felt the same way.

Cynthia only hoped it would work out; that Coraline could make this whole thing work. After everything she'd been thought, she deserved to be happy. Cynthia would do everything she could to make that happen; to help Coraline get everything she wanted. Coraline leaned down to kiss him and Mick raised a hand to her hair, weakly holding her to him as they shared a slow kiss. Cynthia turned from the sight before her and walked away, quietly closing the door behind her.

V—V

Mick broke that kiss when he heard the door close and he looked toward it, though not fast enough to see who had been there. Coraline's voice brought his attention back to her.

"It was just Cynthia. We've all been so worried about you."

He furrowed his brow and licked his lip again. "We?"

Coraline nodded, but before she answered, she stood to quickly fetch him a glass of water and then helped him sit up in the bed, fluffing the pillows up for him. "Cynthia's been staying with us to help me, since… well… and we have the doctor too who comes by each day."

Mick sipped the water slowly as he took a closer look around him. The room LOOKED like a hospital room – there were machines and few instruments that he recognized as being medical equipment, though they were more sophisticated than the ones he'd seen used in the field hospitals during the war. Despite the equipment and the otherwise bare room, it felt 'warmer' than a hospital room, more familiar. He turned back to her.

"Where are we?"

"We're at home. I couldn't leave you in a stuffy hospital, with all those strangers. I wanted you here, all to myself. And, I thought it would be more comfortable for you as well."

Now he took inventory of himself. He felt fine, if a little tired. His should was sore and when he reached up to check it out, he could feel a bandage on the back of his shoulder, under the t-shirt he wore. It seemed, whatever had happened, he had pulled through. Most importantly, though, looking back at the woman beside him, she seemed safe and happy. It felt like a lifetime had passed since he'd last seen her, though of course that wasn't possible. She looked just as beautiful as the last time he'd seen her. But when WAS that?

"Coraline, what happened?"

He watched her eyes glisten with tears at the memory. They made him more curious – and worried – about what had happened. What could have brought his Coraline, normally so strong, to tears? He traced his fingers down her arm and took her hand. That brought a smile to her face as she tightened her fingers around his. He didn't even know what happened but wanted, needed, to reassure her that everything would be alright. How could it not be? They were together, after all, and, as far as he could tell, safe. That was all that really mattered, right?

"Shh, we're gonna be okay. C'mere." He tugged gently on her hand and she looked up at him through the frame of her hair that had fallen in her face.

She climbed onto the bed next to him and they instantly wrapped their arms around each other. He'd always loved the feel of her in his arms, the scent of her. Their relationship was so passionate, so intense, but sometimes even they liked to simply lay enveloped by each other and just enjoy the presence of the person next to them. It was, secretly, Mick's favourite way to spend their time together… not that the intense passion wasn't good, too.

"Mick… it was horrible! Can… we talk about it later? God I don't even want to think about it…"

He kissed her hair and ran his fingers through it as he tucked her head under his chin. "Don't worry, baby." He was silent for a moment, just enjoying the feeling being awake, alive, and in her arms. "I love you."

"Oh Mick, I love you too. More than you could ever know." She almost wept for joy when his strong arms wrapped around her for the first time in… too long. She thought she'd never feel them hold her like that again or look at her with that smoldering gaze, to hear those words or that voice. He tried to sooth away the tears that DID shine in her eyes; tears for their lost time, tears for the pain they'd both been through – though she would never tell him of it. No, it would be hers alone to carry. He could never know. After everything she'd been through, everything she'd done to bring him back to her, she wouldn't risk anything happening now.

God, he smelled so good, felt so good as she curled up against him and he held her close. He asked her what happened, but at the moment, having him back with her, she spoke the truth – she didn't want to think about it right now. She just wanted to enjoy this moment; even she didn't know how long it would last.

Looking back up at him, she took his lips once more, this time it was just a little more forceful, a little longer. It wasn't just relief that he was awake and okay, but also of desire and a promise of what was to come. He shifted on the bed, cradling her face in his large, perfect hands as he returned that kiss. They broke it only because their need for air forced them to and then settled back into the hospital bed Mick had been sleeping in all this time.

They lay there, lazily letting their hands roam as she rested her head on his chest and soon they fell asleep. It was the first good sleep Coraline had since they'd been separated.


	8. Chapter 6

Coraline woke to the feeling of a hard body next to her. It had not been very many times in her life that she'd actually woken up in the arms of someone else. She stretched languidly and raised her head from Mick's chest to look up at him… and into his hazel eyes. She could see his smile in them even before she saw it on his lips.

"How long have you been watching me?"

He brushed a lock of hair from her face. "A while."

"Did you even sleep?"

Mick grinned sheepishly. "No. I get the feeling I've been sleeping for too long. It was my turn to watch YOU sleep." She'd always thought their relationship was insanely passionate; so very physical but still backed by love underneath it all. She never knew until now – until she almost never had it again – how much these moments meant to her. They had the rest of her lives for both.

She kissed him even as she turned in his arms; somehow she managed not to break the kiss as she carefully slipped out of the bed and grabbed his hand. It was only then that she broke that kiss. "Hungry?"

His eyes grew wide and she couldn't help but laugh at the look of complete glee on his face at the question. "Yes! I feel like I haven't eaten in years." Coraline only grinned and pulled him from the bed.

It wasn't long before they were sitting in the breakfast nook; heaping plates of food in front of each of them. Mick greedily shoveled eggs and bacon into his mouth like a starving man. He spoke around a mouthful of food. "This is REALLY good. I don't think you ever cooked for me before."

Coraline smiled shyly as she, in a much more lady-like manner, chewed a piece of toast and swallowed. "Well, we're married now. It's part of the job."

Mick's grin lit up his face. "Yeah, we are." It was quickly replaced by a furrowed brow. "How long?"

Coraline's smile also faded. She wouldn't be able to avoid it any longer. He had to know. He had to know so they could both get passed what had happened and start their lives together. "Just over three months."

Mick was speechless for a moment and he looked away. "Three…" he was surprised, but he wasn't sure why. It felt like so much more time had gone by since he'd seen her last… on the other hand, three months was such a long time – a long time to be asleep, a long time to be away from her; a long time to be away from her when they hadn't even been able to enjoy their wedding night. At least, he didn't think they had. Carrying her across the threshold of their modest honeymoon suite, kissing her in the middle of that room… was the last thing he remembered before waking up last night. "Coraline, what happened?"

It was only then that he looked back at her. She looked down and nodded absently, setting her fork down on her plate. Seeing how that question affected her, Mick wrapped his arms around her and brought her to him and she curled up against him in that bench, looking intently at her nails. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Even though he knew she couldn't see it, Mick smiled. "I remember… marrying you, Mrs. St. John. I remember the reception, dancing with you, never being able to take my eyes off you. I remember being insanely happy; that you were finally, really, mine forever. I remember carrying you into the hotel room, kissing you, telling you I loved you… and that's it."

Coraline closed her eyes as he spoke, letting his voice and his happiness wash over her. She remembered it all as if it happened yesterday, her feelings so similar – having finally found someone, 'the one', and being able to have him in her life. It had been the happiest day of her life… if only it hadn't all gone so horribly wrong. She ran her hands along his arms that were wrapped around her, as if gaining strength from him… funny, doing so from a man who'd been bedridden for so long because of his injuries.

"Take your time, Coraline… but I want to know. I need to know." She looked up at him and smiled, then leaned up to steal a kiss before starting.

"That's how it went and I feel the same way, Mick. I had butterflies in my stomach all day, not just from nerves, but happiness, too. It was everything I dreamed of and so much more. I never realized how happy I would be until it all actually happened. We danced and we talked to our friends as long as we could. That wasn't very long, of course. You carried me up to our room.

"We closed the door, but, I guess we didn't close it properly. You were walking me back to the bed, kissing me, telling me you loved me. We were trying to get our clothes off. Even as we did all that…" she paused then and Mick had a pretty good idea what happened next, though he still couldn't remember. His arms tightened around her again, somehow knowing that she would have difficulty with the story. She responded by wrapping her arms around his, creating a protective cocoon that neither of them would be in any hurry to leave.

"The next thing I knew, there was someone in the room with us. We were too into… what we were doing, maybe we had too much to drink, I don't know. But we weren't… we weren't fast enough to stop him. He hit you and then pulled me away from you. I asked him what he wanted from us, but he wouldn't answer. He tore my dress – my wedding dress! – and the way he looked at me…" she shuddered in his arms and a tear slipped down her cheek. Mick had never seen her looked so weak, scared, fragile. He wished he could remember the attack, if only so she did not have to be alone in that.

"You came up to him, hit him, pushed him away from me. He landed next to the table and grabbed a lamp. Then he… hit you with it. You fell on the bed and… you weren't' moving. Oh God, Mick, there was so much blood. I thought you were dead. I tried to go to you but he had me again. He threw me to the floor and I was sure he was going to…" she took a deep breath before continuing. "But someone must have heard what was going on because more people came into the room and helped us." More tears fell and she shifted against him, as if trying to burrow further into him; into his strong embrace.

Mick was crying too. He held her almost painfully tight, though she did not complain and kissed her hair. How could he have let this happen? He married her; he was supposed to protect her! She trusted him and look what happened! He couldn't even close one door. On their first night as husband and wife he couldn't protect her from an intruder; strangers had to do it for him. He'd always known he wasn't good enough for her – a musician barely making ends meet with a girl like her? Perhaps this was proof of that, even if he didn't want to believe it, didn't even want to hear it. What other explanation could there be?

"Coraline, I'm so sorry, I…"

She turned in his arms to look at him, their teary eyes meeting and not wavering. "Mick, this is not your fault. Please don't think it is! I'm fine and now you're fine. I love you. There's nothing we could have done. I don't know why he did it. But he seemed so single-minded; I think even if we had closed that door, he would have found some way to do what he wanted."

Mick nodded, but even now, his brow was furrowed, processing everything Coraline had told him. "It just… doesn't make any sense."

"No, it doesn't. It was a completely senseless act. But we're both okay and it's in the past. We can move on from it. Concentrate on our present; and our future."

Mick smiled, wiped his tears away and then hers with a gently swipe of his thumb. "I think I can do that." He sealed that 'promise' with a kiss – slow, loving; filled with a promise he wasn't sure he could keep; a promise that he wouldn't let anything happen to her ever again.

After Mick had recovered form his shock of learning about the attack, and Coraline recovered from telling it, he spoke again. Coraline had said they should concentrate on the here and now; on their future. He agreed, he wanted to, but there were still a few more answers he needed before he could even try to let it go. "What happened to him? And what happened to me? Why was I out for so long?"

She looked down again. "The people who came to help us… they grabbed him, but he got away. The police haven't been able to find him." Her hands clutched at his back, as if making sure he was real. "They took you to the hospital; they said you had severe head trauma. They said something about swelling and needing to rest and kept you there for a few days and wanted to keep you asleep for to give your body a chance to recover. They… they didn't even know what your injuries would be like when you woke. I didn't want to keep you in the hospital. I wanted you here, with me, in our house. Yesterday, the doctor said it would finally be safe to wake you."

As she spoke, he bestowed on her soft kisses and touches, simply lending her all the support, all the strength, he could. He could easily see how much it hurt her to talk of it, even think of it. That was what affected HIM the most; seeing his strong, confident Coraline so hurt and scared.

"Mick, sitting here, watching you every day, never knowing if you would ever wake up… if you would be my Mick, you know? They told me such horrible stories of what could happen…" She turned to bury her face in his shoulder and he could feel her tears soak through his shirt.

"Shh. I'm here. I'm okay. Everything will be fine."

She looked up at him and nodded; wiped away her tears one last time. "I love you, Mick."

"I love you, Coraline. I'll love you forever."

"Forever?"

He smiled and nodded and pulled her in for another kiss. This time it was full of much more than just 'love'. He pulled back far enough to look into her eyes with a grin. "We should go somewhere… dinner, a night out, then come back here and… finish our wedding night. What do you say?"

She looked away, worry in her eyes for a moment, and then back at him. "The doctor says you should stay home for a while, until we're sure everything is all right and you're fully healed…"

Mick looked disappointed for a moment, but this grin did not have time to falter before he started to untangle himself from her and stand, pulling her to her feet as well. "That's okay… more time for the 'finishing our wedding night' part of my plan." If someone could pull off looking sheepish, giddy and aroused all at once, it was Mick and he flashed her a fine example of that look now.

"I think… that is a perfect idea."

Mick ran his hand down her arm and laced his fingers with hers. He led her out of the kitchen and when they entered the large, spacious living room he made a bee-line to the well-stocked bar she'd always kept there. He rummaged around easily finding two champagne flutes and a bottle of Dom Perignon being chilled. With that wonderfully sexy grin and a raised eyebrow, he turned to her. "Expecting company, dear?"

"Only you, My Love." She returned his grin – how could she not? It was infectious.

"I think we need to properly celebrate today." He carefully popped the cork on the bottle and filled first one glass, then the other. Coraline pressed herself lightly against his side, one arm wrapped around his shoulders, teasing the locks that he usually kept slicked back in public to make them look shorter than they really were. She rested her hand on his chest briefly, before taking the flute from him.

"I couldn't agree more. We have a lot of celebrate, a lot of be thankful for." Wasn't that the truth? Celebrate their wedding, celebrate being alive, celebrate the fact that he'd pulled through, no worse for wear, just a few scratches and bumps and a nice long nap to show for the ordeal.

He raised his glass in toast. "To us."

Coraline followed suit. "And to life." They clinked their glasses together and each took a sip of the bubbling liquid, their eyes gazing so intently into the others, as if they were looking right into each other's souls. Picking the bottle up in his free hand, Mick flashed her a smirk and started toward the master bedroom. Coraline always had expensive tastes – except when it came to him, it seemed – and the bedroom, that until three months ago had been only hers, reflected that taste. The room was large, the bed immense, and the décor made up of antiques, dark woods and rich colours. It was a bedroom fit for a queen – His Queen. They'd spent plenty of time in this room in the past of course, but when they'd married it had officially become THEIR bedroom. Now they would seal that… and their marriage.

VvvV

Once inside that bedroom, Mick placed the bottle and his glass on one of the dressers and turned to her. She took another sip and handed the glass to him with a smile and it was quickly added to the group. Before it could disappear, he bent to taste that rich liquid on her lips and she oh so willingly shared it with him, but before she would deepen that kiss, he was gone from her, walking over to the record player and the stand that held a small selection of music from her vast collection. Coraline watched as he flipped through them and then, triumphantly, pulled one out. He turned to her for a moment, with a smirk on his face and then slipped the 45 out of its sleeve and flipped it deftly between his fingers to the side he wanted, and set it on the turntable.

She could only wonder, given his obvious excitement, just what he'd chosen. When the needle found the groove and the first strings of the jazz song rang through the air, she threw her head back with a laugh. 'Ain't That Just Like a Woman.' Only Mick would choose to play that song at a time like this. He was so sentimental – though they hid it well from his band mates and friends. He always remembered those 'firsts', the anniversaries. It was simply what made Mick… Mick. It wasn't the song itself that made him play it, but the meaning and memories behind it.

He held out his hand for her and Coraline took the few steps needed to cross the room into his waiting arms. They didn't speak; they didn't give off any signals. Nevertheless, by some unspoken agreement, they fell into a slow dance, even though the song demanded the opposite, moving to some piece of music that played only in their minds.

Taking her hand in his larger one, his other at the small of her back, Mick pulled her close to him. Brown eyes held hazel as they moved around the open space of the room. Coraline didn't care about the world outside this house; outside of this room. She didn't care that Cynthia was more than likely asleep down the hall and likely to know everything that happened in here. She'd waited far too long for this day, she wouldn't let anything, any one or any thought ruin it or come between her and what she wanted.

And what she wanted, what she'd always wanted since the night she first laid eyes on him at that party, was Mick.

Mick's hand began to travel her hack, over the soft cotton of the shirt she wore. And their already slow dance slowed even more until it stopped and they just stood there, looking at each other until his lips lowered to hers. The kisses they'd shared over the last day had been full of love, reassurance, relief, LIFE. It took on something more now; though still languid, it was also insistent, full of desire and, as his tongue traced over her lips and then slipped inside her mouth to duel with hers, to explore, to taste, it was a promise of what was, very soon, to come.

His kisses remained soft as he began to walk them back toward their bed, and she let him. She almost lost herself in those soft, slow kisses. When her back gently came into contact with the bed post, though, those memories of before… they all came rushing back and she didn't want to wait any more… she'd waited long enough. Kissing suddenly wasn't enough. They had too much time to make up.

"Mick…" her arms wrapped around him and her fingers tightened in his hair against his neck. She loved his sensitive side, his loving side, his soft caresses… and there would be there for that later. Now she just wanted him; to know that she had her Mick back.

Coraline's small plea awakened him – the man she'd fall in love with – his passion, his desire. His hands moved to her upper arms, holding her against the post and he let out a little human growl and his kisses grew rougher, leaving her mouth only long enough for them both to take in much needed air before returning to ravage her lips once more; rough, hard, bruising kisses. His hand moved down, tracing the sides of her breasts with his thumbs as he went. When he reached the waistband of her pants, he untucked her t-shirt, his fingers slipping underneath to tease her skin. Only Mick could be so rough and gentle and loving all at the same time – an impossible combination. No one could ever make her feel like Mick had made her feel – so loved, so wanted, so perfect. Only Mick could fuck her and still make her feel only his love and passion. Only Mick… that had been her mantra since she'd met him and what kept her going while they'd been apart.

That teasing didn't last long before he pulled at her shirt and she reluctantly released him so he could get it over her head and toss it away. When her hands returned to him, they did so with purpose, unfastening his own pants and slipping a hand inside to tease him as he teased and kneaded her full breasts. His head dropped so he could kiss her throat. Before she could rid him of his pants, however, Mick took her hands and pinned them to the post above her head in one of his own. She knew his plan. He planned to tease her; he wanted her writhing for him before he took her. It wouldn't be long before he had his wish. They'd played this game many times before. Each had been in Coraline's position countless times. She knew to stay as he put her; he would make it worth her while. Knowing she would, he released her and his mouth left her throat where it had been leaving teasing kisses and painless nips, to travel lower; licking, kissing, sucking at a breast, teasing her nipple between his teeth. Her other breast was not left wanting as he continued to work it with his hand; squeezing, tweaking the hard nub between his fingers and flicking his short fingernail across it. When his free hand ran across her stomach and, taking a page from her own play book, slipped beneath her waistband, she arched into it, already begging for more. She was already so wet, so ready for him. When his mouth on her paused and his head rested so briefly in her chest, she knew he felt the same way – just from experiencing her own reactions to him. That pause was so brief, though, before he redoubled his efforts; his hands and mouth working her furiously.

The only sounds in the room were that of his hand working her below, their heavy breaths and the static from the record player that had long since finished the song and was simply turning endlessly. She spread her legs slightly to give him better access and he took that invitation to, in one swift motion, rid her of her pants, leaving her naked and wanting before him and slipped two fingers inside her. Her entire body arched as he played her expertly, her head hitting the post. She had to wrap her hands around it to stop from touching him.

His fingers pumped wildly inside her, his hand and mouth teased and explored her writing body and then, with a flick of his thumb, she came, shattering around him and screaming his name. He continued to work all of her most sensitive places, drawing out her release as long as he could. Her body tingled, hummed and sang under his expert hands. It all felt so different – HE felt different to her. It was like experiencing it all for the first time. When she opened her eyes – that she hadn't realized she'd closed – and looked down at him, into his eyes so dark with desire for her, she decided playtime was over.

Coraline released the bed post and, though they were against the bed already, she pushed him backwards so he would land in a nearby chair. She removed his pants and climbed into his lap, then rid him of his t-shirt. Finally, he was naked before her. She wanted to tease him, to pleasure him as he had done her. But there would be time for that later. They had 'forever' after all. Now, she just wanted to feel him again. Straddling him, she grasped his length and lowered herself onto him. She let out a breathy moan and almost came at that feeling alone – a feeling she had waited so long to feel again. His hands were instantly on her hips, gripping her hard as they immediately set a quick, ferocious pace.

Her arms were around him again, nails digging into his shoulder; their lips met and parted over and over – hot, passionate kisses that were more like brief attacks on each other's lips. They moved in perfect unison, as if no time had passed. But God, the feeling of him inside her, around her… it was more intense then she'd remembered. How had she lived without this? Without him? She hoped it never happened again. She wasn't sure she could bare it.

They continued to move together; bodies glistening with sweat, hearts pounding, breathing heavy. Mick lavished attention on her throat. Something he'd always loved to do, even before they were married. Coraline felt him grip her tighter and she buried her head in his neck in anticipation of his release, knowing it was being with HER that brought it on. As she felt him begin to fill her, her entire body tightened around his as she followed him into that perfect, blissful oblivion that only HE could give her.

And then he bit her.

Blunt teeth closed forcefully around the skin of her throat, causing white-hot pain to shoot through her. Her fingers grabbed his hair but, even as she screamed, she did not pull him away. She held him to her throat and came even harder. He continued to slam into her and his tongue laved at her throat, soothing the faint wound.

Eventually, they rested their heads on each other's shoulders as they come down from their highs and when their heart rates and breathing had finally returned to normal, Mick looked at her with a look full of manly pride… but also apology. His fingers left her bruised hips. He'd never left bruises on her before and just thinking about that, about the consequences of that, was getting her aroused again. He traced the mark he'd left on her throat.

"Coraline, I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. It just…" his brow furrowed softly, "felt right."

She grinned at him, kissing him quickly, passionately. "Don't you apologize for that, Mick St. John. As you can tell, I enjoyed it. A lot."

He grinned and pulled her in to take her lips yet again, something she would never tire of. They wouldn't be leaving their room for a while.

They had a lot of time to make up for.


	9. Chapter 7

Mick had come out of his… whatever it was… a week ago. Leaning against the bar, he sipped a very nice scotch as he watched Coraline and Cynthia chatting across the room. It was strange to have someone living with them when, to him anyway, it was only a week after they'd been married. They should be in France, on the honeymoon they hadn't had. Instead he'd been asleep for three damn months and still hadn't, according to the doctor, 'fully recovered'. Mick shook the thought off just before Coraline turned to flash that glowing smile at him.

The past week had been amazing; better than he could have imaged being married to Coraline. She opened up to him more than she ever had, but he still felt like she was holding something back, something related to that night. He didn't push her, though. He couldn't remember anything about it and she remembered it all. There was no way to know how it had affected her. On top of that, he'd been injured, so she had that deal with as well, not to mention that he wasn't around or at least conscious, in the days, weeks, months, following the attack to help or support her.

Other than that – his occasional feelings of failure about that night… and his more frequent feelings of cabin fever – everything was perfect. Except for Cynthia. But she'd been here for Coraline when he hadn't been able to and with him being stuck inside, still recovering according to Coraline and the doctor, Coraline had also been staying close to him, the complete opposite of the social butterfly she'd always been. So in that respect, the blond was welcome, if only to keep her company and at least she pretty much stayed out of his way, just as she had before the wedding. Coraline was always such a people person and he knew the only reason she'd had to change was because of—

He sighed, a bit too loudly, and set the glass tumbler on the bar. Coraline turned to him and, seeing the look on his face, turned back to Cynthia to whisper something to her friend who nodded and stood to leave. As she reached the hallway, she turned back to look at Mick, an unreadable expression on her face, and when she turned once more to leave, her blond hair flicked in the air and suddenly…

Suddenly Mick wasn't in that spacious, glass-walled living room. He stood in a dark, metal-lined room a… glass freezer the only piece of furniture in the small space. A blond woman with a golden smile popped her head around the door just before she entered. With a grin she hopped up onto the freezer lid and ran her hand along the glass absently.

"Mick, I always hate this part. I go to our bed and you go to your… freezer." The word wasn't said contempt, more with a small chuckle just like that first night she'd stayed at his apartment, on his couch, hiding from the paparazzi. Despite that chuckle, Mick could feel the seriousness behind her comment.

He took the two steps needed to reach the freezer and stand in front of her, and her legs and arms were instantly wrapped around him. He ran a hand through her hair and leaned down to kiss her; a slow kiss filled with love and desire to get her through the day that they would be apart. His tongue traced her lips, seeking entrance and when it finally slipped inside her warm, wet mouth he explored and teased as her fingers tightened slightly into his shoulder blades. Her need for air was the only reason they broke the kiss. Her need to breathe both annoyed him and thrilled him. There was no denying that he wanted the woman in his arms to be with him for eternity, but only if she wanted it too. He also wasn't in any rush to turn her; to lose the sound and feeling of her racing heart, of her warm body and breaths against his skin.

He looked into the blue eyes of the woman he loved. "I hate it, too, Beth. But you know, I think it makes those good morning greetings all that much more… intense." He grinned at her and she laughed.

"I think you're right." The truth was that most nights he joined her in their bed until she fell asleep. He'd watch her sleep for a while and then go to his freezer. If he rose before she did, he would return to her side to be next to her when she woke. It wasn't perfect, but it seemed to work for them; anything to be by her side as much as possible. They would have done that tonight, but they'd had a bad run in with a vamp today. Beth had not stayed in the car, AGAIN, and though she wasn't greatly injured, she was sore from the run-in they had, and tired from the many late nights it had taken to track him.

One thing generally led to another with them, so he'd decided it best not to join her tonight. He simply had no control around her, at least in that respect. As it was, she'd tossed him that pout and he'd almost caved. Even now, she was being… bad… as her hands moved to his belt.

"Should I help you get ready for… your freezer, Mick?" Her face looked oh so innocent, but he knew that was the furthest thing from the truth and he stopped her and a hand on hers and a sheepish grin on his face.

"Beth… I think we both know that's not a good idea."

"Really? Cause I think it's a great—" She saw his eyebrow raise, the look on his face that was filled desire, a warning, and laughter. She sighed. "Fine. I'm going, I'm going."

Beth unwrapped herself from him and hopped off the freezer to the floor. Before she could get too far, however, Mick pulled her back for another quick, searing kiss, then let her go and took a step back from her before she could return it.

"Goodnight, Beth."

"Night Mick… Mick…

MICK!"

And blond hair and blue eyes were replaced by brown. Mick looked at her in confusion for a moment.

"Coraline? I… what happened?"

She ran her hand along his cheek, looking just as confused. "You seemed upset. I sent Cynthia away so we could talk, but before I could get to you, you seemed to like… completely phase out. You were talking to yourself."

Mick just looked at her in amazement and worry. Coraline looked away for a moment then with a small, weak tug of his hand, she pulled him toward the couch she'd just been sitting on and resumed her seat, pulling him down beside her. She was quiet, looking at her nails again as she so often did during those serious discussions.

"Mick, there's something I haven't told you about the attack, or about your recovery." He just looked at her, even more confused than before, waiting for whatever it was she needed to tell him. With a sigh, she began.

"Your recovery took so long, because… there weren't just physical wounds that needed healing, but… psychological as well. Something about the attack… the doctor says it was the head injury, but maybe it was just the shock of it all? It made you a bit… crazy; delusional. You weren't actually asleep for that whole time. Sometimes you were awake but… it was like it wasn't even you." Tears started to stream down her cheeks and Mick pulled her close, wrapping his strong arms around her to comfort her once more.

"You said… such horrible things about me; to me… did things to me. I… I knew it wasn't really you saying those things, but sometimes it was hard to remember that, to remember that you were sick. You even made up people – Beth and Joseph, though the doctor said they more than likely were people from your past that you 'brought into the fantasy'. You even thought you were a monster – a vampire. Dr. Chase seemed to think that was because of your own subconscious guilt over what happened. They… they wanted to put you in an asylum. But I wouldn't let them! That's why I brought you home. I knew you'd get better. Your delusions, they seemed to stop; we thought they were over but I guess not. I should have realized that first night, when you bit me – you bit people a lot the last few months; the whole 'vampire' thing." She buried her head in his shoulder. "Sometimes we even had to restrain you, sedate you, because you were hurting people, and yourself. In the end, Dr. Chase said we should just keep you under until your injuries healed and see what happened."

Mick was speechless for a long time. He really didn't know what to think. It really made no sense to him. During the war, he'd seen a lot of horrible things; DONE horrible things. He'd seen guys lose it, but even when he was injured, nothing like this had happened to him, unless they'd kept it a secret then, too. He closed his eyes and bent his head, resting it against hers.

He thought back to the vision/memory/delusion/whatever he'd just had. "It… seemed so real."

Coraline nodded. "That's how it works; at least, that's what Dr. Chase said. It's why they're so dangerous… why I wasn't sure… you'd ever come back to me."

"I don't know how you stuck with me through all that."

Almost before he'd finished his sentence, she raised her head to look at him, wiping away his own tears – shed at the thought of what he'd put her through; the horror of what had really happened to him. When he felt her fingers against his skin, he opened his eyes to look at her.

"I love you, Mick St. John. For better worse, in sickness and health, forever. I wouldn't… couldn't leave you." Her eyes burned into his, right to his soul. "Just like you wouldn't leave me."

Mick nodded, smiling slightly through shining eyes. It didn't really make him feel any better about what had happened, to either of them, but at least he had her. That was all that really mattered. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. Anyone who thought that Coraline didn't really love him – and he knew there were many – obviously did not know her. No one would have stayed through everything the last few months unless they were completely and totally in love. Despite everything that had happened, Mick knew he was the luckiest man alive.

VvvV

An hour later, Coraline was letting Dr. Chase into the house while Cynthia looked on from the doorway to the kitchen. When Coraline had said she was calling him, Mick had started to protest; but before he had even finished that sentence, he'd stopped. Sure he FELT fine, but how else could he explain that 'hallucination'? And if they'd been as bad as Coraline had said – and he had no reason to doubt her – then he DID want to do whatever he could to stop them and not only because of whatever he did or said to his beautiful Coraline during those episodes

How could he even have those thoughts about someone else? He'd only loved two women in his life, and this woman – this 'Beth' – he'd never seen before, he was sure of it. But in that short time, he could feel his love for her flowing through him; could feel HER more than he ever had with Coraline. It just didn't make any sense and he hoped whatever the doctor did would really get rid of these damn delusions. He wanted this whole mess, this whole attack, behind him; behind them both. He wanted to take his wife out of this house. He wanted to get on with their lives. Mick punched the back of the couch he was standing behind in frustration just as Coraline and the doctor approached him.

"Hello Mr. St. John. How are we doing today?" Mick just looked at him, keeping his thoughts to himself. Why did doctors always ask such stupid questions? If everything was fine, the other man wouldn't be here right now. He must have seen Mick's expression because all attempts at small talk ceased. "Why don't you come have a seat."

Mick did as ordered and came around to the front of the couch and took a seat and the doctor checked him over. What he was looking for, Mick didn't know. After all, the delusions were in his brain, were they not? The doctor, however, seemed to have gleaned SOMETHING from his examination, because he pulled back and nodded to himself then turned to his bag and pulled out a few things.

"I thought we'd gotten you passed these delusions." He handed Mick a pill bottle and Coraline a syringe and vial. "You'll have to take these pills, Mick." He turned to Coraline, now sitting next to her husband on the couch, holding his hand. "If he has another episode, you'll have to administer that to him. You remember how I showed you?" She nodded. "Good, that should help suppress them if they become strong enough to override the preventative medication." He motioned to Mick's shirt. "Now, take that off and let's take a look at your shoulder, hmm?" Mick did as requested, letting it drop to the couch.

"It's been there for three months, right?" Mick asked of the wound he'd received. "Shouldn't it be healed by now?"

Dr. Chase carefully took off the bandage and Mick flinched at his always cold hands. He should be used to it; Coraline's always were cold as well, at least, they had been before the wedding; bad circulation, she'd said. "It got a little infected, but it's really nothing to worry about." Mick couldn't see what he was doing, nor Cynthia taking a few steps further into the room to get a better look. He did feel the doctor put some kind of cream to the wound and the area seemed to warm. The bandage was replaced and the jar of cream, now closed, was also handed to Coraline. "I think you can deal with this; once a week, as we talked about." He stood and wiped his hands together, then gathered his supplies and put them back in the black doctor's bag before looking back at the couple. "Call me again if there's a problem with all that." He looked at Coraline for a moment with a look Mick couldn't figure out. He stood and slipped his shirt back on then took that chilly hand.

"Thanks, doc." He hadn't really had a chance to do that. While the other man had been by the day Mick woke, Mick had been too focused on Coraline, and on trying to process everything, that he hadn't paid too much attention. Dr. Chase had also, probably out of habit, spent most of the time talking to Coraline and acting as if Mick was still asleep.

"Anytime, of course," though it was clear that he hoped he'd never have to come by again, and not only because of the little look he again gave Coraline. The doctor took his leave and Mick turned to the woman at his side.

"He doesn't have a very good beside manner, does he?"

Coraline smiled as she wrapped her warms around him; one around his back and the other resting on his chest, and smiled at him. "Well, he didn't really agree with my decision to… bring you home to recover. But I can be very persuasive."

Mick grinned and leaned down to kiss her, too briefly. "That's a fact."

VvvV

Dr. Stuart Chase stepped out onto the front porch and shut the door behind him. This had to be the strangest thing he'd ever been involved in. But then, he'd realized that 'normal' had long since disappeared from his vocabulary – ever since he'd met Coraline. He had a feeling that was a normal occurrence for anyone who knew her, or at least knew whatever it was she chose for them to know.

He walked down the path to his car – paid for by Coraline – and pulled away from the house, toward the bright lights of Los Angeles and his own home, thinking about the couple he'd just left. Of course, most of his thoughts, his life, revolved around them.

These last two visits, though, he'd had the opportunity to observe both of them, not just Coraline. He'd never seen a couple so intense – even when Mick had just woken up. The way they looked at one another, the way they touched one another, the way they didn't care if anyone was watching. They were so committed, so willing to do anything for the other. It was hard to imagine, seeing what they were like, how they could have had any problems. It was hard to imagine how fast everything had gone downhill for them. Hard to believe that a relationship like that really couldn't last forever.

VvvV

Mick had had no more episodes in the days since Dr. Chase had been by, and for that Coraline was happy. She wanted to get passed things and get on with the rest of their lives, as soon as possible, just as Mick did. Life was short and she didn't want to waste any more of it than they already had.

That time – a lifetime almost – being without Mick, without all of him, had been torture for her. The only thing that had gotten her through it all was that it wouldn't last forever. The alternative was unthinkable. And it hadn't. They were together now and, God, it was perfect; just as it always should have been. Mick still had a few problems but, though she'd hoped the opposite, she couldn't really expect it all to just magically disappear; and he was getting antsy. He'd never been one to enjoy just sitting around doing nothing and here he was cooped up in the house for almost two weeks, not including the time he'd been under. Coraline was actually surprised he was talking it so well, though he'd often said how much he wanted to get back to work, to provide for her even though they both knew she had more money than he ever would. Mostly though, she knew he wanted to go out and find this person she'd described as her attacker.

She checked the hallway to make sure she was still alone – Mick was in the living room reading when she'd left him and Cynthia had gone out for a bit to eat. She shut the door to the bathroom and locked it. She sat at the vanity and slowly rolled up her sleeve as she looked at herself in the mirror. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She and Mick were to be together forever, but this would have to do. At least she would have her Mick… the way it was meant to be… for many more years.

She pulled a small razor blade and the jar Dr. Chase had left earlier out of a drawer and set them on top of the vanity. With the blade, she sliced across the palm of her hand then used the tip of it to scoop a pinch of the contents and place it into the wound she'd just made. She squeezed that hand into a fist as she closed her eyes and savored the feeling of the compound working itself through her body, warming it even more than it already was. As she savored that feeling, she thought about the past.

25 years without Mick at her side.

33 years before that without seeing true happiness and love in his eyes; instead always tinged with the sadness she'd put there.


	10. Chapter 8

THREE WEEKS AGO

Beth keyed into the apartment she now shared with Mick. Long before she'd moved in, he'd bought a bed for the times she stayed over and by the time he asked her, she was already sleeping at his place more than her own. Despite that, it had still been a surprise to her when he asked her – a wonderful surprise of course.

They'd been living together for months and yesterday was the first day, even since before she'd moved in, that she hadn't seen or spoken to him at all. It was one day, but it still upset her and made her miss him. She figured he'd gotten caught up in a case and couldn't come home, or call, or answer the dozens of voice, text and email messages she'd left for him. She hadn't left them because she was jealous or needing to know where he was every moment of the day; it was just so unlike him.

The last she'd heard from him, he was going to follow-up on a lead and then come home. He hardly ever broke a promise or date with her – even if it was just a date to chill on the couch. On the rare occasion that something did take him away, he always let her know; but there had been nothing. She'd refused to let herself worry though. He was a vampire. He could take care of himself.

Right?

As she stepped over the threshold into the apartment now, however, and shut the door behind her, she couldn't stop herself from really worrying. She moved slowly through the main room and lowered herself into the chair. The apartment felt… empty. How she could tell that when she'd only seen the living room would be anyone's guess, especially when she lived with a vampire. No, Mick still wasn't home; she knew it. She leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees and her large bag forgotten on the floor beside her. Before she could even get comfortable, she was standing again, pacing and chastising herself.

"Come on, Beth. Mick's probably waiting for you upstairs." Of course, the fact that she had said it out loud was proof that she didn't really believe it. If she really did think that was what he was doing, she'd be running up those stairs with a grin; not standing down here, convincing herself of it so his supersonic vampire hearing could listen in.

She looked around the living room, searching for any sign that Mick had been home since she'd last seen him. Nothing seemed out of place, though. The book he'd been reading the other night still lay on the coffee table. They'd been longing together on the couch, he reading the book, she going through her notes; just spending a normal night together. She knew that when he was alone, though, he preferred to read in the leather chair by the book shelf. Of course, the fact that he hadn't read any more of his book meant nothing, but she'd hoped it had moved. It would have meant that he'd at least been home; that he was okay.

Of course, then the questions as to why he hadn't returned her calls would have started. Was he tired of her? She was only human after all and they'd had no serious talks about their 'future' or how long that future would be. But he could have said something to her; she would have understood. She would have been heartbroken, but she would have understood. Shaking her head, she tossed that thought from her mind.

"One thing at a time, Turner."

After going through every room in the apartment, looking for some sign that he'd been there or a clue as to his whereabouts, and finding nothing, she approached the grey door, behind which was Mick's freezer room. With her hand on the door handle, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hoping she would open it to find Mick innocently sleeping in his freezer. Of course, there had been no such luck. The room was bare of even a change of clothes and the freezer was empty. She remembered the many times she'd been with Mick in this room… a simple goodnight or good morning kiss leading to so much more upon the clear glass of the freezer.

There was only one room left to look through; she knew now what she would find – nothing. Even if he HAD been waiting in there for her, he would have come to her or called to her by now, wondering why she was talking so long. Beth walked into the empty room and pulled back the covers of the equally empty bed that she'd made before leaving for work, which had been the reason she'd been running late. Without even undressing first, she crawled into the bed as the sun started to peak over the Los Angeles skyline, pulling the covers over her. She closed her eyes and breathed in Mick's scent that still lingered on the sheets and pillows. He could not spend the days in bed with her, but often lay with her until she drifted off, arms wrapped around each other, not to mention the other… activities… that they often participated in the large bed.

As she drifted off, she hoped that when she woke it would be with Mick by her side, asking about her nightmare and telling her she was silly for worrying. Tonight he would be here and ease all the worry and fear from her, like he was always so good at doing.

That hadn't happened. Despite her worry, she really had hoped he was just tied up with a case, but she'd woken alone and gone through the entire apartment in reverse order to find it all just as she'd left it before going to bed. Her inboxes were all just as empty and Mick STILL wasn't picking up his phone. There was no way he would let her go so long without at least leaving her a message. Something was wrong; there was no denying it any longer.

Something was wrong and Mick was in trouble. How was she supposed to find him? She was only human after all and it wasn't as if she could exactly go to the police. That only left one person and that thought was what had brought her here – to the steps of the Beverly Hills mansion as the sun set.

Kept waiting only for a few moments, she was let into the house and its massive foyer, by the doorman that she had come t know quite well over the years – had it really been 'years' since she'd known them both; since her whole world and everything she thought she knew about it changed? It had, and while full of danger and some sadness, she would not have traded those years for anything and she hoped there were still many more to come. After being told where she could find the vampire of the house, she made her way through the maze of hallways and rooms to his home office. She rounded the corner only to find him… busy.

"Oh, Josef, Sorry, I…" Despite those words, she didn't turn or avert her eyes. She was unable to. She knew he had to have known she was coming. Even though she hadn't called to arrange this meeting; even if she hadn't been announced, Josef would have caught her scent as soon as she entered his house and been able to follow that scent as it travelled closer to him. Obviously he meant to annoy her, or perhaps through her off track – did he know something about Mick?

While she SHOULD be annoyed, or worried that he was trying to hide something… she wasn't. Though she should turn and give the couple some privacy – though neither seemed bothered by her presence – she did not. She only watched on in silence as Josef delicately held the woman's wrist up to his lips, drinking from her as his white vampire eyes turned to his new guest. The dark skinned woman that she had seen around his house several times in the past didn't even seem to know they had company. Her eyes were closed and her head thrown back. Beth could see her breaths come in short gasps and she whimpered and moaned as Josef's lips and tongue worked to draw the blood from her and make it as pleasurable as possible, smiling around the bite at the reactions of both women.

A random thought entered her mind. She wondered why Mick had never feed from her, aside from that one time in the desert soon after they had met. When they'd first become a couple, he'd warned her about some of his… needs and she'd been prepared for them, but still he'd never bitten her. Even in the throes of their most passionate encounters, he'd managed to control himself enough to bite himself instead of her. It made her feel so conflicted – did he love her so much he always had enough sense to protect her? Or was she not enough for him? Perhaps he simple didn't lose control around her because she didn't turn him on enough, didn't please him enough. Because how could anyone need protecting from what the woman in Josef's arms was obviously experiencing? It was yet another question she would have to ask Mick.

… And that thought was what brought her back to the reason she was here; she had to find him! As if hearing her thoughts, the playful look on Josef's face disappeared and he pulled away from his freshie. He cleaned her wound with a flick of his tongue as she whimpered in disappointment at the loss of his fangs and mouth. With a few whispered words and a smile, she was dismissed and Josef finally turned to his guest, flicking a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth with his tongue and straightening his jacket as his eyes cycled back to their warm, whiskey brown and his fangs retracted.

"Beth, what a pleasant surprise, though I have to say I AM surprised to see you here alone. Mick better not beat me up for being alone with his woman, not that he could of course." He gave a self-satisfied smirk and adjusted his tie proudly.

"Josef… Mick's missing."

VvvV

He'd definitely been playing with Beth as he felt her walk through his house. Hey, he'd been hungry and he did feel the need to test the human from time to time. He had to make sure Mick had the best, and as his friend hadn't yet decided what he wanted for his future, for THEIR future, he wanted to know that Beth was the right one for Mick. The reaction he got form her when he was 'caught' was just what he was looking for. She'd changed a lot in the last year and a half. But as he continued to tease her, he felt the change in her and knew it had nothing to do with his little show. He sent the freshie away, turning all of his attention of the blond.

And he was blown away by what she said.

"What do you mean Mick's missing?"

Her shoulders slumped and he could feel the defeat coming from her. She'd clearly been hoping he would tell her where he was, or at least that he was alright. Whether he would have told her anything was debatable, but the fact of the matter was that he really had no idea where his friend was, or that he was even missing. Beth lowered herself into one of his easy chairs, tears glistening in her eyes.

"He called Friday night to say he'd be home after he followed up on a lead, but he hasn't come home. I thought maybe… he'd just got tied up on a case, but he hasn't even called… Josef, please, do you know anything?"

He sat down in the chair next to her, keeping his carefree look on his face, trying to put her at ease. Of course, putting humans at ease wasn't really something he had a lot of practice with. Turning them on, yes, though of course not with Mick's girl.

"I'm not Mick's keeper, Beth. He doesn't, like, tell me everywhere he goes. If he did, I'd give him a curfew."

Not surprisingly, the snark didn't put Beth to ease at all. The fact of the matter was, though, that Josef didn't know what to think. It was definitely NOT like Mick to leave 'His Beth' out in the cold like this, and if Mick had been caught in something vampire related that was this involved, Josef would know about. He'd quickly come to the same conclusion Beth had and he didn't want her to see how worried he really was.

"Josef… please…" her tears, as she looked at him pleadingly to tell her everything was fine, threatened to spill.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at her with that penetrating stare. Growing more serious, but never losing his trademark smile, he tried to put her mind at ease. "We'll find him, Beth. I promise."

VvvV

Josef and Beth talked for a bit longer; he was still a lot more optimistic than she'd expected him to be. Regardless, he'd promised to get 'his people' on it. She wondered, as she slipped behind the wheel of her car, if Josef was hiding something from her – whether good or bad – and just trying to appease her. She was usually pretty good at figuring out when people were lying to her or hiding something, but how do you read someone with 410 years to perfect the art of lying? Especially when you were only human? The answer was – you didn't, and because she couldn't figure out if he was actually going to help her, she decided she had best launch her own investigation. One thing she knew – Josef was the kind of person to tell her to butt out if needed and hopefully if they both got 'their people' on it, they'd find Mick twice as fast. Or at the very least, Josef would be forced to tell her what was going on.

Still sitting in the driveway, Beth pulled out her phone and dialed a, now familiar, number. It was almost to voice mail, she was sure, before someone picked up, a blast of music could be heard in the background for a moment before it was silenced.

"Beth, it's been a while."

"Hey Logan."

"Hey, Mick isn't with you, is he?"

Beth frowned, perhaps calling Logan would prove even more helpful then she'd first thought. "No, why?"

She could hear the computer-geek tapping away on a keyboard and could almost hear his own frown in his voice. "Well… I found some more information on that case he was working on, but he hasn't answered any of my calls." Beth closed her eyes. She was right. Mick was missing. "Beth?"

She turned the car on and started to pull away from the mansion. "I'm coming over, Logan."

"Oh… um… okay…" But Beth had disconnected the call, tossing the phone into the passenger seat before she heard his reply.

VvvV

With a buzz, Beth was quickly let into Logan's basement and he actually met her at the door. Even he knew not to keep a lady waiting. He looked behind her before letting it shut – whether it was to see if she was followed or to see if perhaps Mick was behind her she didn't know.

"Beth, what's going on?"

She leaned against the wall, her eyes scanning the monitors on the table as if Mick's location would jump out at her. She sighed and turned to the vampire. "When did you last talk to him?"

"I don't know, Friday I guess. Why?"

"That's the last time I heard from him, too. I need you to help me find him."

Logan's eyes grew wide in shock and he sank into a chair. "What happened?" Beth only looked at him with a raised eyebrow that could only have been learned from Mick and Logan waved off his own question with his hand as he turned to his computer. "Right, right. What do you want me to do?"

Beth sat in the chair next to him, turning to the computer expectantly as well, even though they'd yet to get to work. "You said you talked to him on Friday and that you had more info on the case he was working on? Give me all you've got. And track the GPS on Mick's phone and car; see if we can locate him that way."

Logan gave half a shake of his head. "Beth, I don't know if that's such a great idea. I mean, if this case is why he's missing and something happens to you too, he'll kill me."

"He can't kill you if we don't find him."

He furrowed his brow. "So does that mean we want to find him or not? Okay, okay…" With that, he was pounding away at his keyboard, simultaneously dialing Mick's phone and running a search on his license plate, both, strangely, memorized.

"I'll pay you…"

He turned to her quickly. "No way! This is Mick. Totally on the house." Still looking at her, he pointed to one of the screens that had already brought up some results. "No go on the cell, he must have it turned off. GPS on his car: also nadda and there's nothing in the police database for it." Beth's face fell at the news. She figured that would be her only hope, their only lead. He smiled and held up a finger. "But…" he picked up his phone and his thumbs flew over the onscreen keyboard. Moments later, Beth's own phone trilled. "That's the location I sent him to – the last place I knew this guy – Thomas McKay – had been." He shrugged. "Hopefully it'll help. I also emailed him a bunch of information. Do you need me to resend it?"

Beth shook her head, looking over the text. "No, I can get it. You said you had new info?"

"Yeah, the guy had a weird message on his machine; Mick wanted me to track it down. I actually don't have much on it – it was a disposable phone. I'm still working on it."

Nodding, Beth stood. "Okay, sounds good." She started toward the door and then turned back. "You're coming with me."

"Um… wha… okay."

VvvV

Logan acted as if he hadn't been out of his basement since the whole Emma and Jackson debacle… or even talked to a girl since then. He talked Beth's ear off throughout the entire drive. In between giving directions to the phone booth he'd sent Mick to, he talked about, well… almost everything; Guitar Hero, World of Warcraft – and how he'd totally 'pwned' Mick in their last raid – and some technical facts about just how he'd gotten the information Mick wanted. Beth didn't really understand most of what he said, but she let him ramble on, even if she contemplated tossing him out of the car once in a while. She figured he was probably just as worried about Mick as she was and trying to keep his mind of it… and as she tore him away from the Xbox, she could hardly complain too much.

As they pulled up to the parking lot next to the phone booth the car's headlights illuminated the green Mercedes that was somehow still parked in the alley. She grinned. It seemed bringing Logan was a good idea; he could help drive the cars back home… and maybe calm down enough to give her a bit more information, aside from his paladin's stats.

Beth parked the car and started to get out. She turned to shut the door behind her and noticed Logan still sitting in the seat, making no move to leave. She nodded to the door. "Let's go, Logan. I need your… vamp senses."

With a sigh, Logan nodded and then got out of the car and joined Beth on the other side. She looked at him expectantly. "What?"

She waved a hand in a shooing motion. "Do that vamp sniffing thing."

He looked at her, confused. "Vamp sniffing… oh!" He scratched the back of his neck and in the beams from the headlight, she saw him look at her sheepishly. "Uh, you know Beth, that's really something we have to practice, and I… well… it's not really very useful in my basement."

"Can you please just try? Anything, Logan."

Nodding, he walked a few steps away from her so he couldn't feel her hovering quite as much. He'd seen other vamps do it, on the odd occasion he actually went out, but it really had been a while since he'd had any reason to try it himself. He closed his eyes and turned his head into the light breeze and took a deep breath. His brow furrowed as he concentrated harder, trying to work through all the scents that lingered on the corner and in the alley – which weren't very pleasant – to try and find the ones that had been there at the same time Mick had. Finally he shook his head and gave up, turning back to Beth with an apologetic expression.

"I couldn't 'see' anything like Mick can – he has it down to a fine art – but I did feel… I think someone was able to take him by surprise."

"How could anyone do that to a vampire?"

Logan shrugged. "Well… if he was really concentrating on what he was doing he might not have sensed anything, or if he was reliving a memory from when this guy was taken he could have thought that he was sensing that danger."

Beth nodded and sighed in frustration. "Well, thanks for trying."

"Sorry…"

"It was worth a try. Let's see if Mick or his attacker left us anything."

They spent half an hour searching the phone booth and surrounding alley, Logan using his vamp senses and Beth using her reporter and investigator eyes and instincts. Finding nothing, Beth made her way back to her car and, crossing her arms on the roof, she rested her head on them, trying to compose herself. As the minutes had ticked on throughout their search, she'd gotten more and more frustrated, more depressed. If they couldn't find anything here, in the last place they knew Mick had last been how would they be able to find him?

"Mick… where are you?" Those first two days he'd been missing, she'd been worried. She'd missed him so much her chest ached, but she still had hope – hope that he'd just gotten tied up; had simply been too busy and forgotten her. Hell, even if he'd decided to run off with some other woman, right now, it would have been okay; at least he was safe. Of course, this was Mick and that just wasn't in him.

Now she knew that something was wrong; something had happened to him. He was in trouble and she could do nothing to help him as he had helped her so many times in the past. She could only wait and hope and pray that some miracle brought him back to her. As she stood there, leaning against her car in the darkened corner, she started to cry.

After a moment, she felt a tentative hand on her back and she stiffened for half a second, forgetting that she was here with Logan. She straightened and wiping her eyes, embarrassed at having an audience – especially the geeky vampire. "Sorry." It was now her turn to apologize and Logan's to reassure.

"Don't be, Beth. We'll find him, you know. I mean… it's Mick… and you talked to Josef Kostan already right?" She nodded. "Well, I'm sure he's working on it, too." He fidgeted for a moment, clearly just as uncomfortable at the moment as Beth was. Thankfully, for them both, he had something to distract her with. "Hey, come look at this."

Beth sniffed and wiped a final tear away before following him to Mick's car. "His car was unlocked, but there was nothing useful inside – no keys and he must have his phone with him. But I found this over by the garbage." He reached into the trunk and flipped open the flap of the messenger bag that he had found and put in there before walking over to Beth. She reached in and quickly flipped through the contents before looking back to Logan with wide eyes.

"This is Tom's bag." Logan nodded, obviously quite pleased with himself that he'd found something so important. "We need to get this home and look through it. If this is here… maybe this is where Tom was taken as well. Mick's disappearance must be related. Maybe the answer is in here!" For the first time since she'd realized Mick was gone, she grinned. Finally she had hope.

"Well, what are we going to do with Mick's car? Call a tow truck?"

Beth shook her head. "No. We don't know what's going on yet. Unless you know a discrete, vamp or vamp-friendly tow truck driver, it could bring too much attention to… whatever's going on here."

"But… no keys?"

Now, she raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "You're a hacker and you don't even consider 'hacking' his car?" Logan looked completely clueless. "We're going to hotwire it, Logan. Well, actually, I am." She tossed her own car keys to Logan. "Mick will be angry enough that I screwed with his car. He'd be furious if I let anyone else drive it. Sometimes I swear he treats this thing better than he treats me." That was a complete lie, of course, but Logan's discovery had brightened her spirits considerably. She was energized and ready to follow the clues.

"Um, okay…" Logan easily caught the keys from her and before he had even reached her car, Beth was seated in Mick's driver's seat, pulling wires out from under the dashboard.

VvvV

It was only after Beth left his office and he felt her move out of his house that the carefree expression on his face disappeared. He sat down in a chair. He was shocked and surprised that he'd been able to carry on the false bravado with her for as long as he had.

He'd tried to tell Beth that everything would be okay; that Mick was fine, resourceful. But the fact was… Josef had no idea where Mick was or, until Beth came by, that anything was even wrong. It didn't worry him that he didn't know where Mick was. He may be head of the community in LA, he may have been friends with Mick for over 50 years, but he really wasn't Mick's keeper. No, it was the fact that his friend hadn't contacted Beth that let Josef know something was wrong. There was no way Mick would have gone this long without letting 'His Beth' know everything was okay. Even if he had to go deep undercover, even if he had to send the message through someone else, the only way Beth would not have heard from him by now was if something was wrong.

Mick was missing, possibly dead – though he would never say those words aloud to Beth. So many thoughts ran through his head that Josef could hardly keep track of them all. No cleaners had reported recovering his body. What if his body were found by human authorities? Was it some vamp that just had a beef with him – he really did get in the way sometimes with his boy-scout, humans-are-more-than-food mentality. It could be a human who knew about and was hunting vampires - a personal vendetta like Lee Jay, or the start of another Reign of Terror. Maybe it was just some random human who got the better of Mick, only to find out afterward what he was.

He had to track the vampire PI down and find him… dead or alive. But those weren't reasons why he needed to find Mick. Mick was his friend; his best friend, his only friend. As Mick had himself said – he was the only friend Josef had that didn't' just like him for his money. That was the way it had always been. Throughout his long life, he'd never had a friend like Mick – someone who liked him for him and not his power or money or influence; someone he could talk to about anything if only he'd let himself. He remembered back a couple of years… to when Mick had thought he'd died in that office explosion. As he'd waited inside his friend's apartment, he'd easily heard Mick talking to Beth in the hallway, feel the emotions coming off the younger vampire – the pain and sorrow and loss. Mick may have been centuries younger than himself, but no matter one's age, loneliness was never something one could look forward to. Mick may not have lived with that loneliness as long as Josef, but eternity was a long time and good friends really were hard to find.

He got Ryder on the phone – who was back from South America and not going by 'Ryder' anymore – to start seeing what he could dig up and then headed over to Mick and Beth's Apartment.

VvvV

Beth broke several traffic laws on her way back to the apartment – even Logan had trouble keeping up with her – but they were finally sitting around Mick's dining table, Josef included. He'd been waiting for them when they'd returned to the apartment, drinking a glass of Mick's blood as if nothing was wrong. Beth should have been infuriated, but she was too interested in the contents of Tom's bag to care. She was actually pleased that he was there to help. They all gathered around the table to start sorting through Tom's notes, calendars and everything else they'd found in the bag.

Tom had been researching a string of disappearances and murders in the city over the last year. There wasn't much to go by in his notes, but it was clear he'd been trying to dig up as much as he could. They'd all – aside from Tom himself – been throwaways; people no one would miss, runaways, transients. Bodies turned up all over the city with no clues to help investigators, though no one, aside from Tom, had been too interested in investigating what they obviously thought was 'trash being taken out'. Much like they hadn't been interested in doing anything about Tom.

Josef took a break from looking through the notes he'd been 'assigned' by Beth and studied the other two people around the pine table. He'd only worked with Logan once before but he knew Mick was pleased with the younger vampire's work and trusted him. Not only that, but he'd obviously been helpful to Beth in just the last few hours, so Josef had no intentions of asking him to leave; besides three pairs of eyes would help more than two. Not only that, he could feel how worried Logan was as well. Josef hid a smile. Mick may prefer to be 'alone', and say that he only had Josef and Beth in his life, but Josef knew that was far from the case. Mick had friends, even if the brooding vampire refused to admit it.

But he had enemies too; a lot of them. Which one was responsible for taking his friend? His attention turned to Beth. She looked over the files and he could see that she was pouring all of her energy into the investigation mode he'd seen her in so many times before. Anyone else would be surprised that she was so calm, so able to be in charge. Josef knew, though, that she was just trying to keep from falling apart. It wasn't his vampire abilities that told him this – not the scent of fear that came from her; or the freshly shed tears dried on her cheeks; or the tremors, so slight a human wouldn't notice them, that shook her body whenever her mind started to drift to thoughts of Mick. No, it wasn't these things that told him; it was just because he knew Beth. He knew she loved her work, but she loved Mick so much more. He knew she needed to keep busy when things got to her.

The day Mick first met Beth – the scared little girl taken by his estranged wife – his life had changed. He'd been a bit too obsessed with her for Josef's liking. Years later, when Mick finally made himself known to her, Josef had thought it a mistake and not only because of his own experiences loving a human woman. He'd quickly realized, however, that maybe it wasn't so bad. Somehow, she seemed to make Mick accept himself and what he was more and despite her obvious misgivings at first – though she'd never admit it – she accepted all of him as well. Perhaps that was why she worked so well for him; she had obviously thought about it all and still wanted to be with Mick

Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen if they didn't find him; but before he could go back to looking through the notes in his lap, Beth Spoke up.

She looked up at Josef as they looked over everything. "This is too much of a coincidence. These cases seem to have nothing to do with Tom's disappearance but the police treated it exactly the same. They have to be related and someone must be pulling some strings." She looked down at Mick's own file on Tom and the photo of the couple staring up at her. "We don't know how long these other people were missing, but Tom hasn't turned up yet. Maybe there's still time to find him." As well as Mick, Beth thought to herself. He may be a vampire, but if he hadn't come back yet, someone had to know what he was and how to hurt him… or worse. She left that final thought unspoken, but all of them shared it.


	11. Chapter 9

Heart pounding in her chest, she ran through the forest. She could hear it pounding in her ears, could feel the blood pumping through her veins. The LA air and sun were warm on her skin, and burned her lungs as she took quick, deep breaths. She risked a look behind her, only to see him gaining on her. She knew this wouldn't last much longer. She was growing tired and knew she'd need to save some energy for what she was certain was coming next. She turned back to see where she was going and a branch whipped her face. She hissed at the pain but kept going.

Her pursuer seemed to realize she was slowing. "I told you that you wouldn't be able to get away so easy." But the fatigue could be heard in his voice as well. She smiled.

The trees started to close in around them. Before she could negotiate her way around them, she tripped over something and fell to the ground. An instant later she had rolled over onto her back, though she made no move to get out of the way. He was almost to her… and then he was. Dropping to the ground over her, planting his hands in the ground – dead leaves and loose soil – holding himself above her.

In anticipation, not of being caught, but of what would come next, her heart and breath raced. She'd waited so long… She wrapped her arms around him and laughed as he flipped them over. A smirk on her face that was a promise of what was to come, she sat up, straddling his hips and crossed her arms to pull her shirt over her head. He watched, hunger in his eyes, as she slowly exposed her skin and when she revealed her cotton-covered breasts, his hands went to them, caressing and running his thumbs over her nipples through the cloth. She bit her bottom lip and moaned lightly, then turned slightly to toss her shirt to the side.

And screamed.

VvvV

Josef entered the morgue with his usual flair; swinging the doors open dramatically and letting them flap behind him as he wiped invisible dust from his hands. He made his way across the room to Guillermo, wrinkling his nose at the smell. "So, I got your… text… and I came down here. What is so important?" He straightened his tie and looked around, as if worried one of the bodies would get up and ruin the Armani. Guillermo managed to contain his laughter, knowing better than to show any sign of amusement at the scene.

"Well I usually call Mick, but… well…"

"Oh I see; I'm your second choice. It's nice to know where I stand." Guillermo didn't know Josef well enough to discern if he was joking or not, so he decided to cut right to the chase. He tugged on the handle closest to him and pulled out the drawer. Pulling back the sheet, he revealed the body of a young man – Thomas MacKay to be exact. Despite the decomposition, Josef easily recognized him from the photos in Mick's file. He waited for the other vampire to tell him what happened.

"Thomas MacKay. Came in last night. A couple of kids found him in the woods. He had no ID or anything on him. ID'd him from records. He's been dead over two weeks. I thought you'd be interested because of the broken neck and –"

"Vampire."

"Yeah."

Despite the length of time since Tom had been killed, Josef could still easily pick up the scent of vampire… a familiar scent. It had been a while since he'd last encountered it so, for the moment, he wasn't able to place it. He didn't say anything about that to Guillermo, just looked at the body curiously for a moment, then back to the other man.

"Police?"

He shook his head. "Not doing anything about it that I can tell; just like his disappearance. If they decided to take another, closer look… the body's clean. We're okay." Meaning: the human cops wouldn't be able to find anything to lead back to the vamp community and so destroying the body would only bring more unwanted attention than they already had.

"Anything else?"

Guillermo shook his head. "Tox screen was negative for all the regulars. Blood/Alcohol levels were nonexistent and aside from a few fading cuts and bruises that happened long before he died, there wasn't any other trauma." He was silent for a moment. "Do you think it will help you find Mick?"

"I hope so."

VvvV

Josef walked down the marble-lined hallway toward the door of his friends. The hallway was silent except for the sound of his shoes echoing along the hallway; more so than usual, it seemed. It made the short hallway feel hollow and empty. He almost never announced his presence; always letting himself in, no matter what Mick and Beth might be doing – or sometimes with the hopes of interrupting. Mick always threatened to change the code and the lock – anything to keep Josef out though, being Josef, he'd find a way in anyway. But even after years of giving that same threat, the code remained unchanged and he still carried the same keys in his pocket.

This time, however, he knocked, as he had whenever he visited over the last week or so; which was more than usual considering Mick was nowhere to be found. He wasn't sure why he did it, though if he were to think about it, it was probably so Beth could make herself presentable. Tears were often much more embarrassing than the many other comprising positions he'd caught her in since she and Mick had become a couple.

It was a long time after the sound of Josef's knuckles rapping against steel rang through the air before she finally answered the door. In fact, had he been human, he probably would have thought she wasn't home and started back to the elevator by now. He was not human, however, and he could faintly hear her moving inside – her footfalls on the floor and the soft rustle of fabric and her scent on the other side of the door.

She opened the door, smiling, but Josef could see that it didn't reach her eyes; eyes that didn't hold the spark they normally did. They hadn't for a week now. "Hi, Josef."

"Beth." She moved aside, holding the door open, and it was only then that he entered the apartment. As he did so, taking off his jacket and laying it over one of the easy chairs in the living area, he could see the mess the apartment had become. The dining table was still littered with Tom's notes and what little else they'd been able to glean about Mick's whereabouts – which, since they'd recovered Mick's car, had pretty much been nothing. The coffee table and couch were strewn with more notes and files, as well as Beth's laptop – notes that seemed to be completely unrelated. Beth was keeping busy, trying to fool herself into thinking there was nothing wrong; or at least distract herself so she wouldn't think of anything.

She closed the door and followed him further into the apartment. When he felt her behind him, he turned and placed a hand on her shoulder, holding her eyes with his own intense, whiskey brown ones. "How are you, Beth?"

Whether it was the concern in his eyes or some vamp thrall that she couldn't detect – and had, for the record, never gotten a straight answer about from any vampire she'd asked – she wasn't able to look away. "I'm fine." She'd hardly said those two words before her eyes began to glisten once more with tears. They remained unshed, but he knew others had fallen down her pale cheeks tonight. She smiled and wipes her eyes needlessly. "Well, I usually am until someone asks me that."

He smiled sheepishly, but nodded. "Sorry." He understood what she meant. It was easy to pretend something wasn't happening. It was harder to ignore, however, when people asked you about it. He sat in his usual chair, hoping Beth would do the same, but she simply fidgeted for a few moments and then walked over the kitchen. Josef watched her as she looked around the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

"Do you want anything? I mean, I don't have any blood, I had to get rid of whatever you and Logan didn't drink, but we still have some scotch. I should buy you some for when you—"

"Beth, don't worry about it. Come over here and sit down." She did as 'ordered', sitting on the couch across from him. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. She must have been able to see that he had something to tell her, because her hand went to her mouth and those tears finally escaped now wide eyes.

"Oh my God. You found him. He's dead, isn't he?"

"No! No, Beth, don't worry." A slight pause. "Well, actually yes, I did find him and yes he is dead, but not Mick." Her expression turned to one of confusion and he quickly tried to rid her of that, and her worry, though the news would not dispel the latter completely. No, it would only bring up different ones. "Guillermo called me into the morgue today. We found Tomas MacKay's body."

Beth's whole body slumped in relief, though it was short lived. It was almost certain that Mick's disappearance was related to his investigation of Mackay's own. With the reporter dead, it was more than possible Mick was too. With the reporter dead, there was no one to question and unfortunately the dead body gave no more clues as to where he'd been held, or what had happened to Mick.

"Did you see the body? Did it give you any leads?" Josef closed his eyes briefly and shook his head in frustration; frustration at not already having found Mick despite his power and skill and influence; frustration at not having any answers for the woman across from him.

"His neck was broken – that was the only major wound on his body. Virtually untraceable. I caught the scent of vampire, but not who. That was it. He'd been dead and dumped too long to get much else; since before Mick went missing."

"Oh," was all she said. She knew the significance of that as well. Not only would it be next to impossible to find Tom's killer, to get closure for his fiancée, but they were no closer to finding Mick. "Josef, what are we going to do?"

He was silent for a long time before answering, debating his response. In the end he chose the truth, as painful as it would be to say it and for her to hear it.

"I don't know, Beth, but we'll find him. I promise." Josef only hoped Mick would be alive when that happened. They sat in silence for a long while, drawing strength from each other. As he sat, he thought back to… was it really the day Mick had gone missing?

_His young friend had come quietly into his home office and sat on the red couch, saying nothing as Josef continued to conduct business. The longer Mick sat there quietly, the more Josef annoyed him by prolonging his business until finally the elder vampire caved. He snapped his ever present cell phone shut for one last time and sat against the front of his desk, regarding his friend with that grin on his face and hands planted on the mahogany behind him._

"_So, my friend, what brings you –"_

"_I think I want to marry Beth." Josef was shocked, to say the least. That certainly wasn't what he expected to hear his friend say when he came by… if ever. Mick may be 'old school', may still hold many of the values and expectations of a man born in the 20's, but he was also a vampire and had been so for almost 60 years. More than that, after Coraline Josef didn't think his friend would ever go down that road again, no matter the era he was born in. Despite all these thoughts that raced through his head in less than a second, the elder vampire never missed a beat._

"_Finally taking the plunge, hmm? And here I thought you'd join me in eternal bachelor-ism. On second thought, scratch that. You haven't made a good bachelor since 1982."_

_Mick rolled his eyes, but seemed more at ease than when he'd first arrived. He rested his arms along the back of the couch. "Thanks. I think."_

"_You're welcome, though it wasn't a compliment." Despite the seemingly harsh words and the smirk on his face, it was clear the barb was meant only in jest. He pushed off the desk and sank gracefully into a chair near his friend. "So. Marriage. Big step what with Beth being human and all. What does she have to say about all this?"_

"_We've never really talked about it… we've sorta stayed clear of the subject. I mean, since we talked about Coraline."_

"_And you come to me first? Mick, I'm flattered." Josef pointed to his chest and put on his best 'aw shucks' look, but the gesture didn't fool Mick._

"_Cut the crap, Josef. Can you please just tell me I'm crazy so I can stop thinking about it?"_

_Josef chuckled at his friend's plea and his smirk softened, if only slightly. "Do you feel crazy?"_

_Mick thought about that for a moment and grinned. "Yeah, actually, I do."_

"_Good. It's about time you went crazy over something that didn't involve the shit storm that was your ex."_

_He laughed. "I suppose."_

_Josef knew that while Beth, and Mick himself, had become comfortable with what he was, he'd never fed from her, never bitten her since that day in the desert when they'd done it to save his life. While at first it may have been Beth's wish for that not to happen, Josef also knew that it was now solely Mick who refused to partake in that particular pleasure, or at least Mick who refused to bring up the subject with her. He didn't even need to ask his friend to know that was true, and he'd bet his house on the fact that they'd never had a serious discussion about their future or, more precisely, exactly how long that future would last._

_Josef grew serious. He was happy that his friend had come so far as to want this for himself and Beth, but though Beth was human, Mick most certainly was not. It wasn't quite as simple as most 'normal' engagements. "Mick, you know if you do this, you guys are going to have to finally talk about some of those things I know you've been avoiding."_

_Mick's expression of bewilderment at his own revelation quickly turned to annoyance at Josef's remark. He sighed quietly, though Josef easily heard it. "Not necessarily. We've gone this long without having to."_

"_Mick, I believe part of the wedding ceremony includes, for starters, 'till death do us part'? Now, I'm not an expert on this whole wedding thing, but don't you think the two of you should have some ideas of approximately how long that will be? The standard for humans is only a few decades. And do you think you are going to be able to continue biting anything and everything except for her? One of these days you're going to slip. Your inner vamp is going to need to be fed. You need to know what she thinks about that before it happens."_

_Anger and annoyance crept into Mick's thoughts, though they were not directed at Josef. No, the older vampire knew it was directed inward, at himself… for not talking to Beth about these things, for being too scared. He was afraid he'd lose His Beth. Even Josef knew that if that were to happen, it would be better to do that now, then to have her leave because he'd done something she couldn't handle; because he'd hurt her._

"_Beth is stronger than you think, Mick. Even I can see that. I think you're worrying about nothing." Josef thought back to the incident with the paparazzi, still held secret from Mick. Josef knew first hand that Beth Turner was more comfortable with their lives than Mick gave her credit for. "Marrying her… will be good for you both. I'm happy for you, man. Besides, it about time someone got you to stop brooking. After 35 years, that was getting old."_

VvvV

It felt strange to be sitting at Mick's desk, especially when he was… no. She couldn't think about it. Especially now; not with what she had to do. The only thing that made this easier was that she wouldn't have to be the one to tell her that her fiancé was dead. The police would have already spoken to Kelly of course, maybe apologized for the way they'd handled the case – though Beth doubted it.

Fiancé… Beth didn't even have that. She didn't resent Mick for that, how could she? After the way his last marriage had gone, she couldn't fault him for not wanting to go through that again, even if they both knew it would be different. Her thoughts drifted to Mick and Coraline, and then just to Mick until a knock at the office door pulled her back to the present. She took a deep breath and then walked to the door, opening it and allowing Kelly to step inside. She turned to Beth, as the blond woman shut the door, looking a bit confused.

"Ar… Are you Beth?"

She nodded and motioned for Kelly to sit on the red plush couch and then joined her. Not only was Kelly confused, Beth was sure, wondering why it wasn't Mick that had called her or why she hadn't heard from the PI in over a week; but her eyes were red from crying and her makeup was freshly reapplied.

"I'm Mick's… assistant." That wasn't a complete lie; she often helped him on his cases.

"Where's Mick? I haven't heard from him in a while. Did he give up on finding Tom… just like everyone else?"

Beth took her hand in her own. "No. No, Kelly. I promise you he didn't. He knew there was more to Tom's… disappearance than the police cared to admit." She wasn't sure if she should tell the other woman that Mick had disappeared as well. She didn't know Kelly well enough to know what that would do to her – knowing something had happened to Mick because she asked for his help. Also, Beth didn't know if she could say the words out loud, now that she knew it to be true, and not break down. It was everything she could do to hold it together for this meeting, especially given the topic. She hoped it wouldn't last long, but it had to be done. It was only right.

"How are you doing, Kelly?"

Kelly squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to keep the tears at bay as reality began to suffocate her. "They brought me down to the morgue… to… I can't believe this is happening. We're supposed to be on our honeymoon. I just… I don't…" She couldn't go on anymore, as sobs wracked her body. Beth gathered her in her arms as the younger girl continued to cry, tears streaming down her cheeks. Beth closed her own eyes and took slow deep breaths to keep herself calm. This kind of thing was hard enough on a good day.

And this was anything but a 'good day'. Any day now, this could be her.

It took several minutes before Kelly's tears slowed. Her arms tightened around Beth briefly before she pulled away from the reporter. Anger marred her features now, replacing the shattered look of a few moments ago.

"Tom is dead. Tom is dead and the police still aren't doing anything about it! What is wrong with this city!"

There was no point telling her that this wasn't a usual occurrence – at least not in the case of someone like Tom. What would be the point? They hadn't yet found any proof of the cops being bought off and even if they had, that would be little comfort for Kelly, and might lead her to start looking deeper. They still didn't know who was behind this or why, but vampires were definitely involved and the last thing they needed was a very public, very human inquiry into it all.

Kelly stayed a while longer, as Beth tried to calm her, reassure her… but of what? Her fiancé was dead. The police were doing and even the private investigator she'd hired didn't seem to be doing anything. Beth couldn't imagine what the girl was going through. She didn't want to because any day now, Mick's body could be next to surface. Mick – her Guardian Angel, the love of her short life, her soul mate. What would it feel like to have him torn from her life? Would it feel as if she were being torn half? How would she function without him? Already, it was agony. Since she was four years old, she'd felt him with her, beside her, watching her, keeping her safe. Now there was nothing, a void in that part of her she hadn't known even existed until she'd learned the truth of her kidnapping. It was more than that now, though. It was more than just a feeling of being safe; it was the warmth of his love for her. It never wavered; it was unconditional. Even in the beginning; she'd taken advantage of him and his love for her, scared of her own feelings for him – even then he'd loved her. Now that was gone, too. She couldn't feel it – even as a human she could feel it in the way he held her, touched her. She could hear it in his voice whenever he spoke to her – even when they argued – see it in his eyes whether they be hazel or that vampiric crystal blue. He loved her totally and completely and she only hoped that, especially with his 'sexy vampire abilities' he knew that she loved him just as much.

When Kelly finally left, it was with a small smile on her face. Beth had managed to steer the conversation to happier times, listening as she spoke of things she and Tom had done together. Now, finally alone, Beth lay down on the couch and let loose all the tears she'd been holding in.


	12. Chapter 10

Four weeks.

Four weeks she'd been without Mick. Four weeks without feeling his arms around her. Four weeks without seeing him or listening to him speak. Four weeks without his love to surround her. Four weeks with no leads. Four weeks with no news from him. Four weeks that he'd not turned up, in any form.

And she was almost numb to it all.

Beth seemed to have shed every tear that was in her to shed. Her body was too tired to sob any more. If she slept, she saw only images of them together, memories of their too short time together. She had no outlet for her anguish anymore. Some small part of her still hoped he'd return to her. There was no body after all, but images of where he may be, what may have happened to him took over her mind more often than not. What if he'd been caught in the desert again? This time with no way to reach her – no one strong enough call her and no magical, miracle cell signal. What if he died like that? Withering away slowly and painfully from the heat of the sun and starvation? The possibilities of what could have happened were endless even for a vampire.

She tried not to think about it. She threw herself into her work so that she had no time to think about it. She took every story she could scrounge up. Crime stories to entertainment gossip, she took them all like she was starving. Maureen had suggested she take some time off work to deal, to look after herself, but they didn't understand – any of them. If she stopped moving, stopped working, she'd break apart; she'd die.

There was nothing to do on Mick's case, either. There had been no leads since Tom's body had turned up – which in itself hadn't given them anything to work with. All they could do was wait…

Beth had never been very good at waiting.

Josef checked on her almost every day, whether it was out of duty to his friend or actual concern for her well-being she didn't know and never asked. While she never said anything to him, she was grateful he did it. At least she knew someone else cared and understood. He'd even offered her a room in his expansive house, so she wouldn't have to stay in the apartment filled with so many memories, but she'd always turned him down. The slight hope that someone would call the office or apartment and she would miss it was too great for her to ignore.

She knew she wasn't alone.

Even if she FELT more alone than she ever thought possible.

VvvV

From her desk a few feet away, the brunette watched the blond stare at her computer screen for a good five minutes before visibly shaking her head, clearing her thoughts, and getting back to work. It was a regular occurrence; something everyone in the office was accustomed to seeing now. Most people steered clear of Beth these days, treating the woman like glass, afraid she'd break at the slightest provocation. Maybe she would, but Morgan thought she was stronger than that. A freelance photographer, she hadn't been around the office very much, but when she was, she kept a close eye on the blond – who was now even more of a workaholic than normal.

With a small smile on her face, she got up from her desk and walked over to Beth's, sitting on an empty corner of the reporter's desk. Finally, she spoke in that sweet, reassuring voice of hers.

"Hi Beth."

The blond looked up from her notes, only for a brief moment. "Oh, hey Morgan, what's up?"

"I was just wondering, you know, how you're holding up."

Beth's hands, which had been flipping through a stack of photos and notes about Mary-Kate's latest scandal, stilled. Her eyes stayed on that stack as she answered. "I'm fine."

Morgan ran a hand lightly across Beth's shoulder. "We're friends, Beth. You can talk to me if you need to."

A pause. "Thanks, Morgan. Really."

Morgan folded her hands in her lap, trying to look like the dutiful friend – succeeding of course, because she was nothing if not an excellent actress. "Have you had any more leads to help you find him?"

Finally, Beth looked up at her, a sigh coming from her as she did so. "No. Nothing. We don't know where he is or if I'll ever see him again. Now, if you'll excuse me—"

"We? I'm happy to hear you're not in this alone." Who was this 'we'? This had the potential to be very bad.

Beth made a motion in the air with her hand, waving off the importance of the comment as she went back to her file. "Yeah, just a few friends of Mick's."

Morgan nodded once. "Well, I'll let you get back to it. Let me know if I can do anything." She didn't wait for a reply from the blond reporter before slipping off the desk and heading back to her own. If these 'friends' were who she thought – why wouldn't it be anyone other than Josef Kostan and their hacker friends – she should be worrying. But then, it had been a month. She smiled. There really was nothing to worry about. They had no clue that Mick was currently in THEIR house, waiting for her to get home.

She sat back in her own chair and, still watching Beth, felt pretty good about how things were going. She might yet just pull this off. Morgan – that was how these people knew her, and had for the last two and a half years – was a patient person. When you were going to live forever, patience became a virtue, after all. What else did they say? 'Good things come to those who wait'? Yes, that worked, too. For 22 years she waited; planning, preparing, and then it was time to put her plan into action. Mick suddenly taking an even greater interest in the woman who once was to be their daughter was unexpected and at first she was furious; her plan was ruined! But then she realized how much this would actually help her plans. It gave her someone she could use to get close to Mick.

So Coraline became 'Morgan' – a freelance photojournalist – and befriended Beth. Once she'd been able to gain the human's trust – easy to do as a vampire – she was able to glean all sorts of information about Mick that she hadn't been able to find out by herself from following him. And following a vamp PI wasn't all that easy, especially when he'd recognize her instantly if he caught sight of her, what with being the wife he thought he'd killed all those years ago and all.

As she followed them both, she realized something else about Beth's effect on him. He seemed to be able to accept himself and what he was so much more now. For that she was happy. That was her one regret – that she hadn't prepared him for his new life. She'd been scared to lose him…. But because of that caution, she'd lost him anyway. She wanted to erase all that and start over.

So she had.

She'd given Mick back what she'd taken from him: his life. She took away all the horrible memories that he had because of what she'd done. It was the least she could do for him, not just because of what she'd done, but because she loved him. She loved him so completely; eternally. They had a second chance now and she would make it right for them so that they would have that eternity. She wouldn't make the same mistakes again.

After he'd rescued Beth and tried to kill her all those years ago, she'd been a bit… annoyed to say the least. She'd been angry at him, yes, but she was angry more at the world for taking him from her and making him hate her enough to kill her. She'd left Los Angeles, left America; gone back to France to recover from her ordeal, both mentally and physically. Thank God Cynthia had been close by that night, to help her out of the burning building before emergency crews had arrived. It had taken her awhile to get over it all, but this was Mick. She could never stay angry at him; even for that. She came to realize that he simply hated what he was so much; hated not her, but what she'd done to him. She needed to find a way to help him, and in the process, help herself get him back.

The cure was the only way to do it. She and Cynthia employed a team of researchers and psychologist to help her. Despite their best efforts, however, they had been unsuccessful in making the cure permanent. That did not dissuade her, however; it wasn't what she wanted anyway. Another 50 years, at most, with Mick was not enough. She still wanted eternity. She knew he would, too, if she just went about it differently; she needed to learn from her mistakes.

She just needed TIME to make that happen. The cure would give her that time and the drugs and treatments the psychologists had told her about and devised would give her the starting point she needed. It would give them both their fresh start.

She'd taken her time to get all of this ready. There was no rush. Though she wanted her Mick back by her side, NOW – his absence throughout the decades and even before that last, fiery night, tore at her soul – they DID have eternity after all.

They tested the cure on vamps – both rogues she'd come across and people she'd turned just for the purpose – to ensure long term exposure would not harm Mick. They tested beta blockers, drugs and other memory-altering treatments, not to alter or change his memories, but to simply take him back to before her mistake, to the time when they were happiest. From there, she would have time to work on him, to win him over to his new life the way she should have.

She had wanted to make sure everything was perfect, and even when they'd finally put their plan in motion, she was worried that she wasn't ready. This would be her last chance to win back her love. She didn't want to screw it up. But then, it had all gone downhill. They managed to keep their test subjects under the radar while in Los Angeles – taking only transients, runaways, people no one cared about. Calling the cleaners to deal with the bodies like they should have done wasn't an option. The service may have been confidential, but they DID work for Josef and they couldn't risk being found out. However, leaving the humans with only broken necks and incinerating the vamps and a few well and discretely paid police chiefs meant there was no way to trace anything back to them.

Then that damn reporter had to go and start snooping around and his fiancée had to hire Mick – of all the PI's in the city – to find him.

Her hand was forced. It had to be now.

She worried, for a while, that it wasn't going to work. Mick was fighting, hanging on to his memories. He'd wake, snarling, trying to attack her; he didn't realize, in his drugged state, that he was human and could do no harm. Sometimes, she wasn't even sure who he was trying to hurt. Her? Himself? Some random criminal in whatever memory had come to the surface? But finally, after three weeks, it seemed as if they were in the clear and they finally let him come out of the sleep they'd induced. It was wonderful, as if no time had passed. She just wanted to savour that feeling and then soon she'd start to lay the groundwork for their eternity together. She only hoped all this would work. It had too.


	13. Chapter 11

Over a week after that conversation with Morgan, Beth's attention was once again on a file spread out on her desk; another fluff piece; the second one this week. Normally, she would complain that it was either a slow news week, or wonder if she'd done something to piss off Maureen. It was different now, though. She took anything she could get her hands one; anything to get her mind off of Mick.

This particular 'fluff piece' was not about a celebrity or a new fashion line; it was about a house. Beth was looking through archives, researching its history. It was a glass house in the hills that had, despite its prime location and unique architecture, been uninhabited for the last few decades. It had been built just after the war and its hey-day had been soon after, in the early to mid 1950s. Maureen wanted to know if the new owners were planning on bringing it back to its popular party past. It seemed each week, the society papers of the time told of the parties it hosted, reviewing the latest fashion and music that always seemed to come out of them. They were attended by the most rich and popular people in Hollywood and benefitted only the most popular charities and public figures.

One article, from 1952, was different than the others; less about the party and more about a potential 'new beau' for the host and owner of the house, Coraline Duvall. It seemed to be a scandal at the time – a high society girl like Coraline taking such an interest in a third rate musician like… Mick St. John. His band had been invited to play the party – an honour for any band of their (un)popularity.

Beth's hands were shaking as she read through the article. Mick had told her everything before she'd moved in with him; told her about Coraline – that they'd been married, that she'd lied to him through omission and turned him against his will. Their relationship after that had been rocky at best and then, 33 years after they'd been married, Coraline tried one last time to win him back by kidnapping Beth as a child and trying to make them in one 'happy family'. Mick had killed his wife. For her. And then watched over her as she grew, feeling responsible for her. He'd even showed her the file he'd kept on her. At the end of that night, he had clearly expected her to be too freaked out to ever see him again, let alone move in with him. She'd proven him wrong, simply asking him questions before showing him in a more physical manner that he had nothing to worry about.

She still didn't remember much about her childhood ordeal, mostly the fight between Mick and Coraline – which she had been pleased to finally know hadn't been a crazy childhood delusion. His face was now firmly planted in her mind as that of her rescuer and his description of Coraline – of course, he had no photo – seemed to fit her 'scary woman'.

She went through more articles. The parties seemed to continue fairly regularly for the next few months, until about the time Mick and Coraline were married. From there, the frequency dropped off quickly until they stopped all together. After researching the current ownership of the home, she found it was in the name of Cynthia Xavier Davis. The name didn't ring any bells, though she wasn't sure why it should.

It still seemed like a pretty boring story even if, by coincidence, it happened to have some sort of link to her own life. With a sigh, she switched off her monitor and grabbed her bag. It wasn't like she had anything to do tonight. And, this WAS Beth. She couldn't deny being just a little curious about a house that had been an important part of Mick's life, even if it were a time he would rather forget.

An hour later and Beth was pulling up to the front of that 'party house'. She looked hard at it as she cut the engine and sat there for a few moments. Something about the hose – aside from the story Maureen had thrust upon her – kept her attention. It never occurred to her that she had been here as a child, or even that Coraline had still owned the house then. Even if she had known, it was likely not the reason. She loved Mick; loved everything about him. She wanted to KNOW everything about him – about his past. Though it had taken her awhile to get passed the vampire barriers that would always be in their way, she now accepted all those parts of him. Had Mick just visited Coraline here? Had they lived here together, or had they found a new home after she'd turned him? How long had they lived here? She doubted any of those questions would be answered tonight, and certainly not if she didn't get out of the car.

After waiting several minutes for someone to answer the door when Beth rang the bell, she was about to leave – or at least snoop around a bit – when the door finally opened. A blond woman opened it only enough t peek around it – though with walls of glass it wasn't like Beth couldn't see inside if she wanted.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm Beth Turner, a reporter with Buzzwire. Are you Cynthia Davis?" The woman raised an eyebrow and took a moment to answer.

"Is there something I can help you with, Ms… Turner?" Beth was surprised at the cold reaction she was receiving but brushed it off; it wasn't the worse reaction she'd ever received.

"I'm doing a story on the history of this house and its current owners." She was certain she was talking 'the current owners' now. "May I look around? Maybe ask you a few questions?"

"Sorry, dear." Dear? Beth thought to herself. "Not interested."

Before Beth could protest, the door was shut in her face.

As she started to drive away from the house, she felt as if she were leaving something behind. The further away she drove, the stronger the feeling was until it was a pain in her chest. Pulling over to the side of the road, she looked back at the house curiously. She couldn't understand the sensation, she'd never felt it before. Somehow she knew there was more to this house – and not just because Mick was attached to it. She'd been here before, she knew it. Perhaps Coraline had brought her here as a child but the feeling seemed like it was even more than that. She cut the engine and quickly and quietly got out of the car to make her way back to the house. It would be difficult to skulk around a house made almost entirely of glass, but she managed to find some bushes to hide behind somewhere around what seemed to be large, open concept living room.

Mick was inside, talking to Morgan.

Beth sat heavily on the ground, not caring that she would get dirty, with a hand over her mouth. All this time she'd been worried about him, scared that every phone call, every knock at the door would be someone coming to tell her that he was dead… really dead; that he was out of her life forever before they'd hardly even begun their life together. All this time… and the whole time he was here with the photographer who had just this morning asked so casually if she'd made any headway in finding him.

Fuming, she wanted to storm in there right now and tell them what she thought of them. Or maybe she wanted to beg him to come back to her. Before she could, common sense prevailed. Mick's car had been left in the alley where Tom had been taken and he certainly didn't have anything to do with the young reporter's disappearance. Even if he had decided to leave her for someone else, Mick would not have been so cruel as to make her or Josef worry so about his safety. No, something had to have happened… but what?

With those realizations in mind, she again looked into the living room. Mick and Morgan were seated on the couch, so close their legs touched and his arm was draped along the back of the couch behind her. They smiled and laughed and he drew her in for a kiss. Beth looked away. She knew he'd been married, of course, knew he'd had plenty of women even before she'd been born. She'd come to terms with that, but she'd never expected to see him kiss someone else, not since they'd gotten together. It made her almost sick. She didn't want to watch anymore and knew she had to leave anyway in case she overstayed her welcome and was caught. She took one last look at Mick's smiling face, this time knowing it could be the last time. Once she saw it, she left just as quietly as she'd come.

VvvV

Josef was on the phone with one of his South American partners when Beth stormed into his office. He knew she had to have been moving at quite a pace because he'd barely caught her scent, a scent full of anger, desperation and hope, before she appeared around the corner. Without even checking to see what was wrong with her, he ended his call and the few staff that were still mingling about left without even being told to. Only when they were alone did he speak to her, rounding the desk to walk to her side.

"Beth, what—"

"I found him! Josef, I found him!" Josef led her to the couch and sat her down, sitting next to her. Something wasn't right. He could easily see the happiness on her face… but sadness and worry were there, too, and it wasn't that happiness that spilled from her in waves, but sadness, confusion and somehow… hope and hopelessness all at the same time.

"Where is he?" Despite everything, his own elation and confusion at her reaction, he was ready to go after Mick and bring him home; to end this ordeal.

Beth's eyes darkened – anger and just a bit of fear overtaking everything else and she reached inside her large bag and pulled out a file. As soon as she opened it, Josef was snarling in anger of his own. He knew the house pictured on the first page well. Even as the need to tear Coraline limb from limb, the need to leave Beth here and go to that house and get Mick right now, he was also more confused than ever. Coraline was dead. Mick had watched her burn, hadn't he? But thinking back to all the conversations they'd had about that fateful night, Josef realized he couldn't remember Mick saying that he'd actually watched HER burn, or seen her ashes. Josef knew full well that some vamps were immune to fire, could it be that Coraline's line was as well? There were too many questions, so he forced himself to remain seated and get all the fact – at least all the facts that Beth had.

Her voice was quiet, even as the words tumbled from her mouth, even though he could see that she, too, was barely able to stay seated and get through the story. "Well, I've been, you know, working a lot to keep my mind off of… well, anyway, I've been taking a lot of fluff pieces, anything to give me something to do." Josef nodded in understanding and rested a hand, which he had to consciously make stop shaking, on her shoulder as he waited for her to continue. "This morning, Maureen gave me this story. She said the house was occupied again after years of sitting empty and because of its reputation 'back in the day', she thought it would make an interesting entertainment piece."

She was more animated, despite the anger and worry – or perhaps because of it – than he'd ever seen her. And Coraline's party house… yes, he knew it well. He'd spent quite a lot of time there, when he'd moved to Los Angeles from New York after Sara. Beth reminded him a lot of Sara; they were both fiery, spirited women. Perhaps that's why he liked her so much.

The house HAD been popular back in the fifties, though its peak of popularity had been before he'd moved here. Even in the latter half of the decade, though, it had seen many parties and he remembered that it was the disappointment of all Hollywood when they quickly came to an end. He could definitely understand why any LA entertainment rag worth the paper - or bandwidth – it was written on, that knew anything about real Hollywood history, would be interested in getting the scoop on the 'new owners' of that famous party house.

"I was going through old news stories about the house and found out that it was owned by Coraline and that she and Mick met there so of course I had to check it out. When I got there, a blond woman answered the door – who I think had to have been Cynthia Davis, the new owner. She totally brushed me off, but something made me stay and check it out. I saw…" Josef tried to hide the look of shock. He remembered Cynthia just as well as the house itself, knew her very well, truth be told. His growing rage was tempered as he caught the scent of tears, though they did not fall down her face. "I saw Mick with…" Though it was impossible, though she was supposed to be dead, Josef expected Beth to say 'Coraline', but instead heard an unfamiliar name. "Morgan Vincent." As she continued, she pulled out a photo from the file and handed it to him. "She's a freelance photographer that I've worked with quite a bit since working at Buzzwire. I can't believe Mick would leave me for HER and that both of them would just let me think…" the tears were flowing now and despite his shock – was it still possible to be shocked at this point? – at the woman who stared back at him from that photo, Josef looked up at her and wiped a tear from her cheek. She sniffed. "Josef, it just doesn't make any sense."

His own words were clipped, holding back the rage so that he wouldn't alarm her, so that he could get the rest of the story. "Beth, when you met her, this 'Morgan', you didn't recognize her? You don't remember meeting her before?"

Beth furrowed her brow and shook her head. "I mean, I always thought there was something familiar about her, but I've never been able to place where I've seen her before. Maybe from some other outlet she worked with. Why?"

Turning back to the photo, he studied it. It couldn't be Coraline, could it? It was hard to believe, but all the signs seemed to point to it being her. Two years she'd been following them. Two years and Josef hadn't even known. What kind of friend, what kind of leader was he that he hadn't known this? No, he couldn't know every vampire that came into his territory, but how could he have missed this? He snarled and stood, pacing in front of Beth for a moment. Coraline had always been a well known vampire; both her vampire and human lines one of the most powerful.

"She may be going by 'Morgan Vincent' now, but this," he held the photo up to Beth between two fingers before tossing it back onto the table in frustration; the paper fluttering to the surface didn't give him quite the satisfaction he was looking for. "is Coraline."

Beth was stunned. Coraline? The woman who had turned Mick against his will? The woman who had kidnapped her as a child? Mick had gone back to her? Or had he? God, Beth was more confused now then she had been before. Josef spoke again, breaking her from her thoughts. "Did you talk to her at all?"

"No, just the other woman. I just looked through the window and he was there with her! And… he wasn't being held against his will."

It was Josef's turn to look confused now. "What do you mean?"

Another tear slipped down her cheek. "I mean… he wasn't angry, he wasn't trying to get away. They were just… sitting on the couch. Talking. Laughing. And then… he kissed her. That's… that's when I left."

Josef retook his seat next to her and gathered her in his arms. Her tears now flowed freely, and he didn't care that the salt from those tears would ruin his suit.

"I don't know what's going on, Beth, but I'll figure it out. I promise you. At least we know where he is, and he's safe. We'll get him back soon."


	14. Chapter 12

It had been almost three weeks since Mick had woken and God, they were the best three weeks of Coraline's life! Who could ever have imagined that being married and being HUMAN could be so exhilarating? She knew Mick felt the same – at least about the marriage part – but she could also feel him getting restless. He'd been kept cooped up in the house since he'd woken; her Mick was rarely idle in the past and she knew it was hard for him to be inside. She felt bed, but it had to be done. He still thought it was the 50's it would take a while before they were far enough along in her plan to let him roam around 21st century LA. His memory slip a while ago had pushed back her plans, but luckily he'd not had another one with the extra meds and the extra dose of the cure she'd given him.

For now… for now she was concentrating on Mick who was now sitting beside her on the couch, his arm running lightly along her arm as they sat quietly on the coach, simply enjoying each other's company.

"Coraline, can I ask you something?"

She smiled brightly, looking up at him. "Of course, Mick, what is it?"

He brushed hair away from her face and smiled down at her. "You know I love you, Coraline. I would do anything to make you happy, but…" He looked at her with those eyes that she just couldn't say no to and wondered what he was going to ask. "When is Cynthia moving out? I know she's your best friend and everything, but I want you all to myself." His grin could light up the room and she laughed.

"That does sound… intriguing. I guess I don't really need her help around here anymore. I'll talk to her about it tonight."

"I love you, Coraline St. John." The hand that had brushed her hair away pulled her in for a kiss. Unfortunately, before they could get too far, Cynthia interrupted them. Mick broke their kiss, biting his bottom lip and looking away from Coraline in frustration. "Go," was all he said to her, though the annoyance could clearly be heard in his voice.

Coraline wasted no time making her way to the kitchen. Mick was right; it was time for Cynthia to leave. She didn't even know why Cynthia was still here. The plan had been for her to leave after Mick woke, but perhaps, deep down, they both thought something would go wrong and Coraline would need her. It was clear that everything was going smoothly now. Before the blond vampire could tell her why she'd called her over, Coraline spoke.

"Cynthia, we need to talk. Mick seems to be doing find now. I think it's time we moved on in our plan. That means I need you to move out."

Cynthia just leaned against a counter. "We've got bigger problems to worry about then you and Mick wanting time alone to re-christen the house. His girlfriend was just here snooping around."

Coraline's eyes bored into Cynthia's. They may have been best friends and Corlaine may be human for the moment, but Cynthia knew better than to mess with the brunette when she had that look.

"I am Mick's WIFE. Beth is nothing. Just keep her out of our hair. Kill her if you have to."

Cynthia remained silent. It would do no good to remind her that Beth's death would not be as easy to cover up as the others and not only because she had friends in the department. Time was running out, though, and she was worried for her friend. They'd spent so long planning and preparing for this that Coraline thought of little else… including the possibility that it may not work. She wasn't sure what would happen to Coraline if that were to happen. Even before their little visitor today, Cynthia had always known that this plan was a long shot. She was torn, and always had been, as to what to do. She'd wanted to steer her friend away from this plan since the very beginning… but she'd always do anything for her. Mick made her so happy that Cynthia wanted to do anything and everything to help her get him back, even if she had never liked him, even though the odds of this plan actually working was miniscule. And they both knew, though neither had said it out loud, that this was the last plan. If this didn't work, they weren't sure anything would make Mick come back to her. And Coraline was obsessed with getting him back, needed him so much that if they failed in anyway, Cynthia would lose her completely – either to death or madness. She was already half crazed with love for him. She decided to continue to press her case, if lightly.

That 'plan' was to eventually tell Mick about vampires and convince him he should be one. They would have their eternity once again, the way it should be. If Mick never seemed ready for that, she wouldn't push them and they would live out their human lives, grow old and die together. 'Plan B' was definitely not something she was looking forward to, but at least she would have Mick and they would be happy, even if it were only for a few decades instead of eternity.

"I'm sorry, Cora, yes of course, and I'm happy to go back to the hotel if you're ready for that. I just think that we needed to either move him or hurry along to the next phase. I think we could be… visited again sooner than we'd like. When are you going to tell him?"

"Tell 'him' what?" Cynthia looked up, shocked that she hadn't sensed Mick's approach. She'd probably been pouring all her concentration on Coraline.

Coraline turned to Mick, a wide, bright smile on her face, shooing Cynthia off with her hand. Damn her for being so careless! Even if she WERE to tell Mick the truth today, it wouldn't be like this. She HAD learned from her mistakes. However, Coraline was nothing if not resourceful and able to change plans at the drop of a hat.

"Oh Mick, it's wonderful! I was waiting for the perfect time to tell you!" She took both of his hands in her own and pulled him to her. "We're going to have a baby!"

Mick's eyes grew wide and his mouth spread out in the cutest, silliest grin; even if she could still see the slightest hint of confusion on his face. "Really?" She nodded enthusiastically. "You said you couldn't have children."

"That's what they always told me. It's a Miracle, Mick! I was at the doctor yesterday. I said the same thing to him, but it's really true! Isn't it wonderful?"

His smile grew even more and he pulled her in for a quick, possessive kiss. When he broke it, he placed a hand on her stomach, though there was nothing different about it, yet, and his piercing gaze held hers. "Yeah it is." This time, when he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, it was slow and full of his love and promise. Eventually they were forced to part, if only for air, and she rested her head against his. Even as a human, she could feel the excitement coming from him in the way he held her, the twinkle in his eyes as he looked at her – happiness and love and wonder. Maybe she needed to change her plans. Maybe they could live this human life a bit longer?

"Mick, don't ever leave me."

"I'll never leave you, Coraline. I love you."


	15. Chapter 13

Josef was making himself busy around the diamond bookcase, gathering weapons that he would need to go get Mick; a Mick that seemed so happy where he was. Part of Beth thought they should just leave him there. Who were they to tear him away from that happiness? She's said as much, tears flowing freely, to Josef more than once since she'd come to his office with the news. He'd stopped and made her look at him and assured her that there was something not right about the whole thing, even if he didn't know what it was. He would bring Mick back.

Now, she paced around the apartment as Josef continued to prepare, lost in thoughts of his own, she was sure, when she came across a large plush tiger. She ran her hand across the toy's head and smiled, remembering back to that night Mick had taken her to Santa Monica, just days before this had all happened. Just days before she'd lost him. He had seemed so happy, so carefree that night and every night prior to that for weeks and months.

She picked up the tiger and carried it over to the couch where she said down, setting the toy on the floor beside her. Worrying and debating over this wasn't going to help her OR Mick. Instead, she chose to close her eyes and think back to the night Mick had won her that toy. The night at Santa Monica had been perfect. They'd both been so happy, so full of life. Even though she knew Mick was always happy to be with her, that night seemed different. There was something more in his touch and the way he spoke to her; she hadn't yet been able to figure out what. But the whole night had been magical and she couldn't imagine how much it had cost to keep the pier open for only them that night. Mick had money, sure, but he didn't have that much and to spend so much on her, for just a regular date…

But it had been so worth it. They'd had so much fun – more fun than she'd ever had before and she could tell Mick had as well; reliving memories from his childhood, something he probably thought he'd never do until he met her. They'd ended their night in the beautiful, immense carousel house, taking in the beauty of the art and riding the carousel itself. And he'd taken her there, with the plaster horses staring on, in one of those moves that was so spontaneous, so out of character for him, but she always relished and looked forward to. She loved everything about him, including the times he surprised her – and, she thought, himself as well. It had been amazing.

That was a given of course. Every moment she was with him was amazing.

Hopefully that wouldn't be her last. Hopefully there would be many more surprises to come.

VvvV

Josef looked over the items laid out before him – an arsenal, more accurately. Coraline may be human, but Cynthia was still a vampire and Coraline was always full of surprises. Josef Kostan never underestimated anyone, especially a human – how else would he have survived over 410 years? The weapons before him were vampire killers, but they would all do just as well against a human, if required. Strangely – or perhaps not so strangely to those that knew him best, though that list was extremely small and would be even shorter if exist at all if this little exercise didn't go well – Josef didn't have many of his own weapons, at least not in his home or office. They were safely stowed away for a 'rainy day' – the apocalypse, which for Josef was a torch-bearing mob.

No, he was looking down at Mick's 'toy box' – stakes, machetes, silver and more; a blueprint of the house drawn from his own memories and the little information Beth had been able to provide sat on the table next to the box. He could feel the worry coming from Beth, sitting on the couch just a few feet away. It was distracting, but he tried to put it out of his mind.

He hadn't planned for a battle like this in almost a century. It may be on a much smaller scale, but it was still a battle, nonetheless. The last he'd been in was during the First World War. That may have been decades ago, but he was no less lethal than he was then. Even if it were his own paranoia that made him stay 'in the game'. He still fought, still killed people, but nothing in a long time had been more important than this. This was Mick. He was the one person in his life that he really gave a damn about; that really gave a damn about HIM. It was more than that. Mick was the only person Josef trusted. Ever. He was the only friend Josef had. Ever. Mick was really the most important person in his life and he wasn't ready to lose him.

That was all on a personal level of course.

Josef was also head of the Vampire Community in Los Angeles. Coraline had gone a step too far. On his turf. To HIS friend.

Okay, so he was back to personal again. He'd known Coraline for a long time and he'd never known her to do something so… crazy before. Faking her own death? Lying in wait for decades only to show up when Mick was happier than he'd been his whole life? Obviously doing… something to the young vampire to make him stay? He wasn't' sure how to take all that. Did he just not know her like he thought he did? Had he underestimated her? Had she somehow gone crazy? He'd known new turns to go crazy – not taking to their new life. He'd known ancient vampires – older than him – go crazy because of their age, because of all they'd seen. He'd never known someone of her age to snap. Or did she really just love Mick so much she'd do anything to get him back? Josef didn't know, and he really didn't care. It was too far and this time there was no way Mick could take care of it himself… if he even wanted to.

Josef didn't know how this would all go down; if blood would even be drawn or anyone would be lost. Whatever happened, he hoped Mick would forgive him. Even with that possibility – however small – in his mind, Josef had no hesitation about what he was going to do. Mick needed his help.

He sighed and shut the weapons chest, locking it. He folded the 'blueprints' up and put them in the pocket of his dark pants before turning to Beth, putting the cocky 'nothing can hurt me' look he often wore on his face for her benefit.

"Alright, Blondie, I know all about you. You need to stay. Got it?"

She nodded. He didn't believe her.

"Are you sure, because I could tie you up if needed. That would be… entertaining." If Josef wasn't concentrating so much on his task for the night he probably would have allowed himself to dwell on that image for a bit.

"I promise, Josef. Just bring him home… please."

It was his turn to nod now, once, and he picked up the chest and headed toward the door. As he held the door open, he spoke to her once more without turning to face her. "I'll bring him home, Beth. I promise." Josef hoped, for all their sakes, that he was right.


	16. Chapter 14

Josef approached the familiar house at lightning speed, leaving his car down the street. Once he got to within a few feet, he approached even more cautiously, using his vampire abilities and tight fitting dark clothes to move quietly and stealthily thought the yard to the front door, a small bag of weapons slung over his shoulder. Coraline could be a force to be reckoned with and though he and Beth hadn't seen any evidence of many more people around the house, there was no guarantee that was still the case. Cynthia, too, knew a few moves of her own, if he recalled correctly. Any other time, as he approached the door, he would have recalled some of the memories he had of this place, good and bad, but now he focused only on what he needed to get the job done – times he'd seen Coraline and Cynthia fighting, the times he'd watched Mick and even sparred with him.

He didn't want to fight Mick. He didn't even want to think of the possibility that he would put up a fight, but he couldn't discount what Beth said she'd seen. He had to be prepared for anything. He WAS prepared for anything.

Leaning against the door for a moment, he prepared himself for his attack. It wouldn't be the first time he'd attacked or even killed a friend, though Coraline could hardly be called more than a very good acquaintance… that he may or may not have slept with on more than one occasion. Nevertheless, it was never easy, but it had to be done and he knew it wouldn't be the last time it would happen.

Taking one more moment to close his eyes and take in his surroundings, like only a vampire could, he felt no one else lurking outside in the shadows. Inside he felt… only two humans. Strange. Perhaps the 'happy couple' had gone out for the evening, or perhaps they were on the other side of the property, just out of Josef's range. Either way, Josef had all the information he needed for now. With a stake in hand, he hit the door hard with his shoulder and burst into the living room…

And came face to face with Coraline, who was coming from the kitchen...

Which didn't make any sense, because he hadn't sensed any vampires.

In a very un-Josef-like move, he took a double-take, the stake lowering slightly. The woman moved like Coraline, smelled mostly like Coraline. She sure as hell looked like Coraline. Despite all that, he could hear her beating heart and see the blood flowing freely through her veins and she smelled human. It didn't make any sense. Was this Beth's 'Morgan' and was she really just a Coraline look-alike? Then she spoke and her sweet voice sounded like Coraline.

"Hello, Josef."

Then, her entire demeanor changed and she screamed.

Getting over his shock, Josef stalked further into the house. If he'd used even a fraction of his full speed, he could have had her in the blink of an eye, but he was confused and he hated not having all the facts, even if the 'facts' were that he was going insane. As he moved across the room, cautious of whatever trick she might pull out, he heard a glass shatter and someone running into the room.

Mick had been standing at the kitchen counter, fixing drinks for them both. At the sound of a large bang, his head had shot up, looking to the living room, but it was only as he picked the glasses up to take into the other room that he heard his wife's scream. Forgotten, the glasses fell to the ceramic tiled floor, shattering as he ran in to see what had started his wife.

When Mick appeared in the living room, he gave off all the same, strange signals to Josef as Coraline had; some sort of human version of his best friend with outdated clothes. As Mick surveyed the scene and his eyes landed on Josef, he looked on in confusion. There was a spark of what may have been recognition, but it was gone almost before Josef could catch it.

"Who are you?" The man standing in the room – having obviously broken into the house – looked very familiar to Mick. His eyes then went wide as they settled on the stake still in Josef's hand. He held up his hands in defense and, still watching Josef, spoke to his wife. "Coraline, what's going on?"

That answered that question, Josef thought to himself. This was definitely Mick and Coraline… but some Twilight Zone version of them. Coraline took a step toward Mick and this time, Josef did use his vamp speed to come between them, causing Mick to step back in shock. Josef warily kept his eyes on Coraline. He didn't know what the hell was going on here, but he wouldn't underestimate her. He couldn't.

Coraline's eyes were still full of fear and, to make matters even more confusing for Josef, some of it was real. Much of it was an act, he knew that, if only because of the way she'd greeted him, but some of was real; she was afraid he'd take Mick from her. That, of course, was exactly what he planned on doing. He knew nothing more dangerous than a woman holding on to something she loved – whether she was a vampire or human or… whatever the hell was in front of him.

Before she could answer his first question, Mick spoke again and Josef could feel the confusion the other man felt. At least he wasn't alone in that regard. "Do we know him?"

"Yes! Mick, he's the one! The one that attacked us!" This man had been responsible for what had happened to them on what should have been the happiest night of their lives. This man had destroyed that night, stolen three months of Mick's life – of THEIR lives – together. He was still losing time as he continued to recover from his injuries. All those thoughts sped through Mick's mind in the blink of an eye, just as the young man – a kid almost – approached them. This man was here to ruin their lives again, or finished what he'd started.

Before Josef could even start to understand what the hell she was talking about, he felt Mick's strong arm around his throat, trying to pull him to the ground. Josef flipped them over, wincing as Mick hit the ground, landing on his back. No sooner had he released his friend than he was after Coraline, clearly the more dangerous of the two; Josef had no chivalrous qualms about hitting a woman if he had to. With a hand around her throat, he pushed her back to the coffee table.

Her 'oomph' as she hit the wood seemed to revive Mick and he looked up as the man stalked toward Coraline. He would not… could not let this happen again. He watched as the man's hand went around her throat and pushed her to the table. God, what was he going to do? The worst images ran through Mick's mind; none of them were good. He couldn't let that happen. This scumbag had come so close to take everything from him, from Coraline. Now he had a second chance at his life. Now he was given a second chance to erase what had happened that night, a chance he could have done without.

"Coraline! No!" Again he grabbed Josef, his shoulder this time. The vampire would not be caught off guard again. As Mick spun him around and tried to throw a left hook, Josef blocked the blow and pushed him away, trying to scale back on his strength so as not to hurt him. Coraline, however, he would not be so gentle with. He didn't know what was going on here, but she was definitely the brains of the operation.

"What have you done, Coraline?" His eyes changed to a threatening shade of white and his fangs lengthened slowly.

"You'll never find out." She whispered so quietly; only Josef would be able to hear. The fear on her face only for show now, it ran no further than that. She was confident that Josef would fail. That only spurred him on. He growled low in his throat, picked her up and threw her across the room. She hit the wall and slid to the floor. His features quickly took on their human mask before Mick could see them; he didn't want to risk freaking him out anymore than he already was… for now anyway. It wasn't needed, however; Mick's attention was completely on the woman lying on the floor.

"Coraline!" Mick ignored Josef this time, running, despite his own pain, to his wife and crouching beside her unconscious form. Slumped on the floor, she was so still; she hardly even looked like she was breathing. He felt like his entire life was lying on the floor, slipping further and further away from him.

"Coraline, talk to me baby." As he spoke, he ran his hands over her, as if searching for injuries, lingering on her stomach. All of his training was forgotten; useless when the patient was the love your life, when she was your wife and your own, miracle, unborn child. He looked up as the man walked toward them, half shielding Coraline's body with his own, his eyes full of fire and anger.

"What do you want from us? You attacked us once. Why are you doing it again? Do you want money? We can give you that. Just tell us!"

"Mick, that's not what I want." Now that the fight had a lull, Josef couldn't help but feel sadness come over him at the situation. His best friend – his only true friend in four centuries – didn't know him and thought he wanted to hurt him. Of course, as Mick didn't remember him, that was hardly surprising given the current situation.

"Then leave us alone!"

"I can't do that."

The glint of steel caught Mick's eye. He was able to grab the letter opener that had somehow fallen to the floor during the scuffle and managed to stab to his attacker's thigh. Grabbing the wound, the man gave an almost inhuman howl of pain. As he pulled out the blade, Mick took advantage of his distraction to lunge at him, throwing him to the ground… and then took two steps back as he saw his attackers face. He had to have hit his head hard during the fight, because he had to be seeing things. His face…

"What the fuck?" Nevertheless, his instincts to save his family overrode his fear. He needed to end this and help Coraline, help himself, before it was too late. He tackled the injured man once more, pummeling his face. The intruder shook off his shock and the last thing Mick remembered was a fist connecting with his own face.

VvvV

"Sorry, Mick." Josef winced again. He really hadn't wanted to hurt his friend like that. Now, with both people out cold, he was able to take an unneeded breath and look around the room. It was almost unchanged since the last time he'd seen it. Actually, it had changed! The last time he'd been here was in the 70's, but the décor, even the appliances seemed older than that. He walked over to the coffee table. When he'd pushed Coraline down onto it, a few papers had fallen to the floor. Bending down, he picked up one of the newspapers, brow furrowed at the look of it even before he saw the date – January 10, 1953.

In shock, he turned back to the fallen couple. Their clothes, her hair style – it was all definitely 50's. Mick didn't remember him; in reality they hadn't met until '56. "Holy shit," he muttered to himself. Could Coraline somehow have made him think it was 1953? Somehow erased all of his memories back until that point? It seemed crazy; nevertheless he seemed to be holding the proof of it in his hands. He had heard of drugs and procedure that could rid people of traumatic, debilitating memories, but never on this scale – 57 years worth of memories, gone! Even if it was possible, he couldn't imagine it would work on vampires; but then… the heartbeats, their scent, the fact that they were still both unconscious. Somehow they weren't even vampires anymore.

Josef was beginning to think HE was the one who'd been hit on his head. This was so crazy, though, he knew it had to be true; he'd never be able to come up with THIS scenario. Either that or really had entered some kind of Twilight Zone or alternate reality. What's next? Vampires that sparkled? Hell, at this moment, anything was possible.

Coraline was starting to stir, groaning in pain. Josef was at her side in a flash, easily holding her down with one hand, growling at her menacingly, eyes and fangs showing in anger at… whatever the hell she'd done. His keen vampire senses could tell she had a lot of internal bleeding and several broken bones from when he'd thrown her against the wall, he could hear them moving together faintly within her body. Despite the pain she had to be feeling, she was smiling.

"You don't think you can take him from me, do you? We're meant to be together. You think he'll just go with you after what you've done here? After what you did to us on our wedding night?"

"What the hell are you talking about, Coraline? I wasn't anywhere near Los Angeles for your wedding."

"Yes you were. You attacked us in our honeymoon suite. You hurt Mick so badly that he took three months to really start recovering – wounds that just wouldn't heal, delusions." She started to cry, sobs wracking her broken body, but she just kept right on going through the pain. "And then… oh my God, he was laying there and I thought he was dead and then you tried to rape me! That night was supposed to be perfect and then you ruined it!"

Josef couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew Coraline had always been… intense, but now she seemed to have gone completely insane. The laugh that came from her next only seemed to prove that theory. She winced and hissed at the pain before she continued.

"Of course that didn't happen, silly, but Mick thinks it did. Now you've come back into our home and injured his loving wife and their unborn child."

"My God… Coraline…" he was almost speechless… and Josef Kostan was never at a loss for words.

"And now he's lying there, fighting for consciousness so he can tear you limb from limb for murdering his family. But he can't, can he?"

"How did you do it?"

"You think I'm going to sit here and tell you my 'evil plan' so you can kill me and save the day? I don't think so. That's what the villain does, Josef. I'm just trying to get back the man that I love; to fix a mistake I made. I'm only telling you what you need to know so that you can see there's no hope. Mick will always be mine. If you kill me now, he'll only hate you even more. Just go, Josef. Let us be happy together."

The last few words she spoke were barely audible; it was only Josef's vampire hearing that allowed him to catch them at all. The pain was getting to be too much for her. She was getting to be too much for him. He wanted to snap her neck, just to shut her up, but how would he ever find out how to reverse what she'd done? He looked around the room, scanning for anything that would tell him what to do. And then he found it, a small piece of paper by the phone.

Sneering, he turned back to Coraline. "I would make this quick for you, but I want you to see Mick leave you for the last time; to know before you die that your plan failed. Good bye, Coraline." He stood up and, bypassing the letter opener, walked over to pick up the stake that he'd dropped during the fight. Walking back toward her, almost stalking her, he looked down at her one last time. Then, in one quick motion, he knelt on one knee and plunged the stake into her chest, just missing her heart, ensuring that though there was no hope for her, she would still live long enough to see him leave with Mick. Speaking of Mick…

Before Josef's hands had even left the stake, he heard Mick behind him, trying to get up. Once again shaking off his vamp features, he turned to the human just as Mick realized what had happened. "NO!" he struggled to get up. Josef rushed to his side, grabbing him before he could either fall back down or go to Coraline's side. Josef was certain he was about to do both.

"C'mon buddy, let's get you home." Mick struggled in Josef's arms, trying to break free of the other man's iron grip. He turned to him and the only thing stopping him from punching Josef was the vampire's arms holding his own down. His look, though, could have killed Josef in an instant, if it were possible.

"Home? You just destroyed my home! You killed my wife! She was going to…" Mick couldn't speak anymore, so overcome with emotion. Josef had never seen his friend like this, not even when Mick had 'killed' Coraline the first time. He looked away for a moment, to compose himself. When he turned back, he applied pressure to a spot on Mick's neck, causing him to go limp in his arms. Coraline was right. They would be lucky to even gain Mick's trust, let alone help him. But they would try anyway. With a sigh, Josef picked his friend – hopefully they would be friends again – up in a fireman's hold and left the house.

VvvV

Coraline's vision turned black, but not before seeing Mick try and get to her again. The anguish on his face hurt more than her wounds, but she was calm with the knowledge that he loved her… that he would always love only her. As Josef carried him from the house, her body was no longer in pain and she finally drifted off, dying a human death again 300 years after her first.

A few moments later, she screamed.

It was an inhuman scream of pain and frustration and loss; of her world crashing, once and for all, around her. She screamed until she should have been hoarse; cried until her body refused to cry anymore. She was gasping for air, wide eyes completely white with hunger, gangs bared and skin almost grey.

And then she stopped.

She was calm, focused. She slowly and carefully pulled the stake from her chest, but the wound would not heal yet. Coraline needed to feed. She stretched, and her bones slowly set themselves and mended – much too slowly for her liking. She lay on the floor taking deep, uneven, unneeded breaths as she waited for her body to heal enough to move around.

Coraline stood, smoothed down her torn and bloodied dress, and walked to the kitchen as if nothing had happened. She opened the corner cupboard and carefully removed the glasses from the bottom shelf. Reaching into the back, she tripped a hidden switch and opened the fridge that even Cynthia hadn't known about. She pulled out a bag of blood and with an impatient growl, she tore into the plastic.

Damn that Josef Kostan. How was she going to fix this?


	17. Chapter 15

Beth lay on the couch, trying to find any lingering scent of Mick on the cushions, but it had been too long. The tiger still sat on the floor and her hand rested on its head. It was hardly the most intimate item of theirs she could have clung to, or Mick's favourite, but somehow it made her feel close to him and that was what she needed right now.

Josef was out there trying to bring him home. What if something happened to him? What if Coraline put up too much of a fight and Josef was killed? What if Mick was caught in the cross fire?

What if Mick really WAS happy there and refused to come back to her? What would happen to her? What would she do? It didn't even enter her mind that her life would be in danger, more than it usually was anyway – she knew too much about the vampire community. Without Mick's protection, both physically and as an important member of that community, would Josef or some other vamp finally take out the threat? No, that wasn't what worried her; in fact, had the thought entered her mind, she possibly would have welcomed that death if faced with life without him. It was that life – that horrible possibility – that worried her. Up until now, it had been hope – hope that he was still alive and would return to her – that had kept her going these weeks without him. They had been hard weeks, but that hope got her through, knowing he loved her and would do anything in his power to bet back to her. That hope was quickly slipping away; what if he didn't plan to come back to her?

Life was empty without him in it, at her side, as he'd always been. He didn't just protect her anymore, he loved her, surrounded her. His absence had torn at her for six weeks, growing stronger with each passing day until she could hardly breathe. To continue her entire life like that? She would suffocate, slowly and painfully. She sobbed once, really having no more tears to shed.

"Mick… I need you, I love you."

She wanted to go with Josef to help bring Mick home… or die at her love's side. Josef had made her promise to stay here and so she did – because if Mick did end up coming home, only to have her die in the process, they would be no better off. Call her selfish, but she didn't just want Mick alive and well and home, she wanted to be with Mick for a long as she could be. Not to mention that she would just get in Josef's way – the human liability. So she stayed in the apartment, waiting, hope fading with every minute that passed that she would never see him again.

Then she heard it… the security system! The sound broke through the fog in her mind enough to have her sitting up on the couch. This would either be the moment she had been hoping for, for the past six weeks, or the moment she'd been dreading. She watched the door cautiously as Josef stepped into the apartment, with Mick in tow.

"Josef!" As soon as she saw that he had Mick with him, Beth was off the couch and making her way to their side as fast as her human body could carry her. It was only by pure luck that she didn't trip over the tiger. She met Josef half way and Beth followed him back to the couch. He easily tossed the toy out of the as he lay Mick gently on the cushions. Instantly, Beth sat next to Mick on the couch, running her fingers over his face, as if needing to feel him, to know he was truly here with her.

It was only then that she noticed his quickly blackening eye and how still he was even though there was no sign of stake wound. He was dead. She realized there had been no look of relief or triumph on Josef's face. As she looked at him now, she could only see sorrow marring his usually handsome features. Mick was dead. She let out one loud whimper of loss and sorrow at the realization. Before she could lose it completely, she felt Josef's hand on her should and heard him calling her name.

"It's not what you think." Not what I think? She thought to herself. How could it be anything else? She looked up at him curiously, angrily; not for failing in his mission to bring him home safe, but for not allowing her the freedom to mourn the loss of her love. He simply nodded to the chair furthest from the couch. "Go site over there. If I tell you to run, you run."

"No. Josef… I don't understand. I don't want to leave him." He may be dead, but Beth wasn't ready to let him go. Not yet.

"Beth! Do it!" She shook her head and held Mick's hand tight, her anger growing. She'd listened to him when he told her stay at the apartment and look what had happened! She might have been able to help, at least been another pair of eyes. But, no; she'd stayed here and now Mick was dead; she hadn't even been able to say goodbye. The tears started now – it would seem she did have more to shed. This time they were not because of her loss of hope, but because she'd lost her love, her life. She had listened to Josef's orders before, but she wouldn't now. She needed time with Mick before they took him away and did… whatever it was they did vampires when they… died.

Josef seemed to have no patience for her human emotions at the moment because in the blink of an eye, she was sitting across the room in the chair Josef had indicated and was already making his way back to Mick. She hadn't even felt him move her. Too emotionally worn out, she stayed where he put her and watched.

He scanned Mick's injuries as best he could without removing the other man's clothes. As it was Josef himself who had inflicted them, he knew they would all be internal. Closing his eyes, he listened closely to what was going on inside Mick's body. Finally, he pulled back, seemingly satisfied with whatever he'd found. Josef sat on the couch next to his friend and placed a hand on one of his arms. With the other, he massaged a spot on his neck and then quickly grabbed Mick's other arm as the younger man awoke with a start, almost giving Beth a heart attack in the process.

She wanted to defy Josef and run to Mick's side but she was frozen to her chair in shock. He was alive! She was too elated at the discovery to even think of being confused about what was really going on. Little did she know, that confusion would come soon enough. Nothing was 'right' yet, and wouldn't be for a while.

As Mick's eyes quickly scanned the unfamiliar room, they finally settled on Josef. "You!" He tried to raise his hands to attack him, but the vampire was easily able to hold him still. "You killed her!"

"Yeah, I did, but you need to calm the hell down, or I'll kill you, too."

"Do it!" Josef sighed; he really shouldn't make empty threats.

"I lied."

"You killed her. And our baby. They're DEAD! Because of you! What do you want?"

And that confusion slammed back down on Beth like a sledgehammer. What the hell was going on? "Josef? What's he talking about?"

Josef didn't take his eyes from Mick as he spoke to her. "I'll tell you in a minute. As soon as I get tough guy here settled down." 'Tough guy' had already settled down, how ever slightly, at the sound of Beth's voice. He tried to crane his neck around Josef's body to see who else was in the room with them. Curiously, Josef moved slightly to allow him to see Beth. Mick looked at her, just as curiously, a spark of recognition in his eyes.

"Do I know you?" Beth squeezed her lips together and breathed deeply, trying to hold back more tears, trying to hold it together for all of them. She managed to give him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, Mick. It's me, Beth."

"Be—no! No. no no no no. not again!" Mick closed his eyes and then opened them again, as if hoping the scene had somehow changed, which of course, it hadn't. But he lay still now, whatever had bothered him, as well as his sore body, keeping him quiet for now. Josef tentatively released him and looked at her; she looked back at him, her brown furrowed in sorrow and confusion. He got up from the couch and set the security system so that it could only be opened – from inside or out – by actually punching the code into the control panel. If Mick really had no memory of anything after 1953, there was no way he'd be able get out that way. He motioned for her to follow him into the office, which she did only after a lingering look at Mick – who had either fallen asleep or was simply trying to block everything out. The door to the office was hardly closed before she one was onto Josef.

"What the HELL is going?"

Josef let out a long sigh and sank into the couch. He may be a vampire, but the last few hours – hell, the last few weeks – had taken their toll even on him. Beth leaned against the desk, arms crossed, waiting to hear Josef's answer; dreading it at the same time.

"I'll be damned if I know, Beth. What I can tell you is this: Both Mick and Coraline are… human. Well, Coraline's dead; I killed her. Somehow Mick thinks it's still 1953 and that they are happily married." Beth bit her lip. She didn't even exist in his world yet. Her parents didn't even exist. "How the fuck either of those happened is beyond me. She's also convinced him I'm responsible for some sort of attack on their wedding night. And she told him she was pregnant."

"Was she?"

Josef shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Hell maybe it's possible. I was too busy and already too shocked from everything else."

Beth nodded and they each sat there, silently, for several minutes until Josef heard Mick begin to stir. He stood up and straightened his shirt, but Beth stopped him with another question.

"What are we going to do?"

He looked toward the door leading to the apartment. "I'm going to see if he will cooperate, even if I have to tie him up or put him under again. I don't want him hurting you, but I have to go back to the house and clean up and search for any idea how this happened and how to fix it.

"You stay here – unless you need to get away from him. I need someone to watch him, we can call Logan if you want, but he seems to trust you."

"No, I want to do it. Please." Her voice was small, child-like.

He nodded. "Alright then, but don't trust him. He doesn't trust us. Frankly, I wouldn't either, if I were him." She nodded once, slowly, and they set to work. The night was far from over, yet.


	18. Chapter 16

As he stepped over the threshold into Coraline's house, thankful it was well-shielded from the road, he caught the scent of her blood still heavy in the air. But as he looked over where he'd left her… she was gone. Quickly, he made his way to the spot. There was no blood trail leading away, indicating she'd not dragged herself away. Had someone else been in the house and taken her body away? Of course, he had ways of being able to find that information out. Closing his eyes, Josef took in the scent of the room – blood, fear, anguish, tears. And then he saw it – as he carried Mick from the house, she died. But then… a moment later, she was awake and gasping, clutching at her chest and removing the stake in full vampire visage. The vision ended and though he had no clue where she'd gone, he did have a valuable piece of information – this… whatever it was that had made them human wasn't permanent. When Mick died, he would revert back to his vampire self. Later, Josef would debate the pros and cons of that; for now he still had a house to search.

He started with the item that had caught his attention earlier, just before he killed… or thought he killed… Coraline. With no cell phones, as it was suppose to be 1953, and no vampire photographic memory to help them remember numbers, he'd seen a note by the phone with 'Cyn' and a very 1950's phone number. Searching the area now, there was no trace of it.

"Dammit!" She must have called Cynthia, after she'd risen, to come and get her, or simply left on her own and taken the piece of paper so Josef couldn't track her. He knew the younger vampire, though. She may come up with diabolical schemes, but she was nowhere near perfect. She had to have forgotten something – with that thought in mind, he tore the house part from top to bottom. She'd done an excellent job keeping every detail in the house as it must have been when they'd been married. There was no clue to the real date to be found anywhere, but she hadn't hidden those clues very far.

Sitting at her vanity, he ran his fingers along the ornate wood and underneath, behind the short, decorative panel at the front, he felt smooth steel. Another few moments and he had the secret release undone and the wooden panel removed, revealing a safe. His lock picking abilities may not be well known or often used, but it was a simple mechanism – as if keeping with the 50s theme – and easily cracked. Inside, lay the lives of 21st century Mick and Coraline – wallets, Ids, phones, keys, money and a small metal box. He was surprised she hadn't come in here to take them, but perhaps she didn't think Josef would be back so soon. Or perhaps she'd given up the game. Whatever the reason, he had them now. He shut the door and tore the entire safe from the vanity, setting it aside to take with him when he left, thought the contents had no leads as to where he could find her. The last room, however, was the master bath and though he didn't expect to find anything useful in there, he went to check it out. He would leave no stone unturned.

When he opened the medicine cabinet, however, he was happily proven wrong. In amongst all of Coraline's toiletries and the regular creams and other items to be found in any normal human bathroom, there were several pill bottles, medical vials and a jar of some type of ointment. He picked one of the bottles up and looked at the label, pleased to see someone's name as the doctor besides Cynthia or Coraline. Hopefully he'd be able to track this Dr. Chase down. Quickly, he gathered up all the bottles prescribed to Mick, not knowing if any of them were important. He had no idea what she'd done to him and Josef wouldn't lose him now just because he's left a few bottles behind.

After one final sweep of the house, Josef placed a call to the Cleaner, though there wasn't much left to 'clean', and gathered his finds, making his way quickly to his car. After driving a few blocks away, he pulled over to the side of the road and pulled out his phone, placing a call to Logan Griffin.

"Uh, Mr. Kostan, Sir, um…" there was a crash in the background, as the young vampire fumbled to turn off whatever was screaming in the background. "Um, hi?"

Josef got right to the point. "I need you to find a doctor for me."

"Uh… a doctor?"

"Just do what I tell you."

"Yes, sir!"

"Find this doctor and look up these drugs for me." As Josef rattled off the information, he heard Logan typing in the background. He frowned as he picked up the jar; there was no label on it.

He instructed Logan to text him – within the half hour – with the information he'd requested and then hung up. Before he pulled back on to the street, he opened the jar, letting the scent of the deep, blood red 'cream' drift toward him. Blood. Strong vampire blood… and something more. This was no human invention. Once again, he muttered to himself. "What the hell?"

VvvV

Dr. Stuart Chase had a bad feeling.

Cynthia had contacted him yesterday to tell him of their little visitor; to keep a low profile until Coraline decided what she was going to do about it. He wasn't entirely aware of the significance of that visitor and didn't know what that would mean for their group – or, more specifically, for him. He only knew what the pair thought he SHOULD know and the details of people in Mick's life weren't high on the list. The only reason he even recognized the name 'Beth' was because of Mick's memories. This 'bad feeling' – that in reality he'd had long before Cynthia called him – had him hurriedly packing a bag… and a cooler. It was definitely time to move on; he wished he'd done so long before now.

And now it was too late. As he tossed a pair of blue reindeer patterned boxers into the black duffle bag, he heard the front door to his house give way as someone burst in. His head shot up and wiped around toward the door of his bedroom, as if being a vampire gave him some sort of X-Ray vision to see through the walls of the house. Quickly, without even zipping the bag, he grabbed it and the cooler and ran to the other end of the room, trying to sneak out the back window like a guilty teenager… which he hadn't been for about 30 years. Hell, he hadn't even been human in 20.

But just like his teenage self, he was caught before he could escape – though much more quickly and violently than his human parents could ever have hoped to be able to do. Whoever it was that caught him grabbed the back of his jacket as he'd disappeared out the ground floor window and dragged him back inside, flipping him as he threw him down so that Stuart landed on his back. He looked up at his assailant. Despite the anger on his face, the man standing above him seemed quite young, but the power that exuded from him, not to mean his scent, spoke of his true age; even older than Coraline. Stuart didn't get out much, always stuck in his research, but that fact alone told him this had to be the one and only Josef Kostan. Could it be that this was the 'Joseph' Mick had talked about as they'd worked on his memories?

Quickly, Josef bent down, picking the young vampire back up by this throat and holding him like that, pressed against the wall. Of course, Stuart couldn't be strangled… but that just meant there would be no passing out to avoid the pain of Josef's strong hand crushing his throat… or made it any easier to answer Josef's demands.

"Tell me everything about Coraline."

"Who—" Stuart managed to croak out. Josef's grip tightened even more; Stuart didn't think that could have been possible. Josef's face, his stance, his emotions – not to mention that hand around his throat – gave every indication that he was pissed as hell and ready to do whatever it would take to get the answer he wanted. Despite that, he seemed almost completely clam, even more evident when he spoke – a quiet, yet demanding voice that was somehow more frightening than any screams or shrieks Stuart had heard in the past.

"I think you know exactly who I'm talking about, doctor chase. Tell me everything. Now."

VvvV

"O-okay, okay." The words were hardly recognizable with Josef squeezing his throat, but the older vampire seemed to have gotten the meaning; perhaps he'd simply felt his acquiescence. The pressure was released from his throat as Josef tossed him onto the bed. He leaned against the dresser and simply quirked his eyebrow in a way that clearly said 'go on'. And so he did, telling Josef everything, finally happy that this tale was finally over. He'd never be able to go back to Coraline after he'd told Josef everything, even if he wanted to. It was a moot point anyway; he was certain he wouldn't live through the night, even if he told him everything he wanted.

Coraline… he should never have gotten involved with her. It was a mistake from the beginning, but one he'd happily gone along with… for decades. It was too interesting a project for him to pass up. By the time he realized what was going on, it was too late; he was in too deep and, after all, he had to do whatever his sire told him, right?

He told Josef about his first meeting with Coraline. He'd been working late in his office – not uncommon – and without even knocking first; she'd opened the door and breezed in. Cynthia followed her and his own secretary brought up the rear, apologizing to him and trying to herd the beautiful, graceful women out at the same time. Stuart held up a hand and told his secretary she was fine to go. She nodded and left, closing the door, leaving the three of them alone. He stood and invited them to sit; Coraline did, practically gliding toward the chair on the other side of his desk. Cynthia stayed where she was, standing by the door like the brunette's beautiful bodyguard.

Stuart shrugged and retook his seat, asking the woman across from him what he could do for her. He could certainly think of a few things like to do 'for' her… to her… with her… He wasn't really picky. She smiled a sweet, seductive smile – little did he realize at the time that she'd known exactly what had been on his mind and had, in fact, been counting on it.

She introduced both herself and her friend and got right down to business. She told him that she was a fan of his work on memory and wanted to learn more about and fund his research. He looked at her skeptically. Most of those familiar of his work were afraid of it, wondering about the implications and here was a beautiful woman who not only seemed interested in it, but wanted to fund more of it? He must be dreaming. She laughed a sweet laugh and assured him that he most certainly was not dreaming. She thought his work had great merit and wasn't squeamish about his preferred methods of research and his true goals for that research, both of which he'd always been careful not to reveal. Coraline had obviously read between the lines and liked what she'd seen.

He wondered if she knew, if she realized, the full scope of what he was suggesting. It wasn't that he thought a beautiful woman like her would be unable to comprehend that – after all, it wasn't really that difficult to understand the consequences of erasing one memory, let alone much more than that – but he wondered if f she was actually interested in the science behind it all or if this was just something 'fun' to take the boredom out of her very comfortable life. She left that night, giving him her number and told him to think about and give her a call if he wanted to talk about her proposition further.

He thought about her offer for days, sometimes it was all he could think about, his work effectively on hold until he made a decision. When, he did place the call, he told her to meet him at his office at midnight if the offer still stood. He decided to go all out; tell her his grand scheme, what he wanted to accomplish with the research, the cost involved – and not just financially. If she got scared and backed out, he hadn't lost anything, right?

He started out by explaining to her how dangerous playing with memory could be. The procedures he'd already developed had been a breakthrough for mental health treatments, erasing someone's traumatic memory to help them move on for example. It also could have more… sinister uses. It could, theoretically, be used by the perpetrator of a crime to erase the memory of a victim or witness. Even if it were used in a solely voluntary and helpful scenario, if not done correctly it was possible that there would be nothing stopping that the person from putting themselves, unknowingly, in the same situation again, not having been able to learn from their past mistake.

He wanted to do so much more. He wanted to prove how very fragile human memories were; how they should be held on and cherished in case one day they were gone. What if they could erase a lifetime of misery? Perhaps by doing so, the subject would be able to start anew, create a new life for themselves. The problem was that if you erased an entire life from the point of that original trauma, they'd be left, essentially, thrust into the future, able to copy physically through muscle memory with all the day to day things, but eternally confused about the 'new' world they were in. That feeling would compound itself exponentially depending on how far back you erased those memories – and all of this was only theoretically possible, of course. It could also be used to create the perfect spy. Though he'd not developed – or cared to develop – a way to establish new memories, an agent's previous mission could be erased.

Basically, no good could come out of this research, aside from bragging rights. Of course there were natural ways of losing one's memory – through amnesia or Alzheimer's, and the knowledge of how memories were erased could help develop treatments and cures for these conditions. That was the argument he used when he was talking about it with people.

As he spoke, Coraline seemed rapt with attention, leaning forward in her seat, soaking up every piece of information and even asked good, well-researched questions. She was not just some bored, rich housewife looking for a hobby. He'd been pacing his office as he told her everything, both out of nerves and out of habit when he got excited about his work. It really was rewarding and so very interesting to discover the mysterious way the mind worked, how elusive memories could be, but also so important, so vital, so a part of the human condition but also misleading and painful. Such a conundrum they were; how could anyone NOT want to explore them as much as they could? The problem was, of course, even if by some miracle he had the approval to do the research he wanted, how would they ever find people who would actually want to have part of their lives – not just a single painful or embarrassing memory – taken from them?

She told him not to worry; she was sure, with her contacts, that she'd be able to find willing subjects. They talked more about the project and she shook his hand, then winked at him as she left. He wondered if she was single. She seemed like she was into him.

They started off slow, working on the theory behind it all, carrying on the research he'd already been doing – after all, he had to completely master the removal of one memory before they could go on. He'd warned her that this would not be a quick project – it could, and probably would, literally, be the work of a lifetime. She didn't seem to mind, as if she had not just a lifetime but literally all the time in the word. It was clear to him that she had some underlying plan in mind. He didn't care; he could hardly complain or question after everything she'd done for him and his work.

After a while, she set him up with another office so they could safely delve deeper into the research than he could do in his regular office. They were quickly moving past the research he had approval for – and he did mean 'they'. Coraline and Cynthia were both not only benefactors, but avid research assistants.

Then, one day, came the bombshell.

"What if you had eternity to work on your research, Dr. Chase?"

"I don't' understand."

That's when he found out about vampires. That they existed, were real, walked among humans without anyone knowing. He laughed, clearly not believing her. When she said she was a vampire, he thought she should be committed – hell that would explain why she was happy to work on research that could probably never be made public, let alone successful. She flashed her fangs and blue-white eyes at him and he blamed it on a trick of the light. She took a knife from the kitchen and cut her arm; the wound instantly healed but still he attributed it to some kind of trick. Finally, she passed the knife to him to try for himself. She really was crazy; there could be no other reason… could there? He was a researcher, and his curious nature won over; with the knife in one hand, he took her arm in the other. He ran his fingers over her cold, pale skin, making sure she'd not done anything to it that would somehow fake the results of his 'experiment'. Then, gripping her wrist, he quickly ran the knife over her flesh, drawing blood. Before his eyes, and with no other explanation than the one she gave, the wound quickly healed. With a smile of triumph at his shocked expression she asked him: would he like to be what she was? Eternally young, able to see his work through to completion?

After he'd been turned, though she hadn't told him her whole plan, he had been let in on research that she and Cynthia had been doing on the side. It was research on something they'd called 'the cure'; a temporary mask for vampirism that had been, secretly, around for centuries. She knew a vampire that she wanted to help. He'd been turned without consent. They were experimenting with the cure to create more of it, but also to determine what the long-term effects of it would be on the vampire/human. The temporary cure lasted only a few days or weeks or month. If the person was killed in their human state, they would revert back to their vampire physiology. After years of quietly testing it, however, they realized that the more someone was given 'the cure', the longer it would take to wear off. In fact, they theorized, if given enough of it, the person could live a long, happy, human life and when they died, whenever or how ever that was, they would, just as any regular human, stay dead. Her interest in his own research lie in trying to rid this poor man of all his vampire memories. It seemed like a very charitable idea in theory, but he didn't know how exactly that was going to work in practice as the man had obviously been a vampire for many years already. Coraline seemed to have the answer to that, though she never shared that with him.

A couple of years ago, they hit a breakthrough in their research. They returned to LA and Stuart and Cynthia continued to experiment and perfect their respective procedures while Coraline began to put her plan into action. They had a way to turn the vampire back and to erase the painful memories. The only way to reverse both would be to turn the human once again.

After all those years, It had only been a few months ago, when he was visited by a reporter – Tom… or Tim… something like that – that he'd realized that the subjects may not have been quite as willing as he'd suspected and that in fact, Coraline had most if not all of them, human and vampire, killed when they were no longer needed. The young reporter had been following the string of deaths, traced it back to the group of vampires and was threatening to expose the research. Despite his own misgivings at the revelation, he knew he couldn't let this man go public. Not only would he be unable to see his research through, the vampire secret could very well be exposed. By Coraline's orders, he arranged a meeting with Tim/Tom. Cynthia accompanied them and attacked the young man.

Still, it wasn't until Mick had arrived at the beach house that Stuart realized exactly what he'd been involved with all these years. It had been Coraline herself who'd taken this man's life and turned him into a vampire without him even knowing they existed, because she loved him and wanted to be with him. It was obvious that was what fueled this plan as well. In her own deluded mind she may have been doing this to 'help' him because she loved him but he either, again, had no idea what her plan was, or had rejected the idea because they brought him in unconscious and 'the cure' already. He tried to back out, then, but even as he said it to Coraline, his sire, he knew there would be no getting out of it. Honestly, she wouldn't have had to make him; his own pride, his own curiosity, meant that he had to see it through, to know that this research had worked.

That was why she'd chosen him.

They'd given him regular does of the cure whenever Coraline felt him start to revert and immediately started a heavy regime of perfectly safe, memory inhibiting drugs and therapies. It was an arduous process, going back through his memories piece by piece, though Stuart was surprised that it had taken just three weeks to get Mick back to the time Coraline had decided on, though the drugs were and always would be needed. They'd encountered several stumbling blocks along the way. Some memories were harder to erase, stronger because of the intense emotions that surrounded them – like his memories of Beth and, yes, why he'd recognized Josef, upping his meds when required to produce the desired result.

Through his long explanation, Josef had asked questions but mostly just listened, standing there aghast and doing everything in his power to not rip the good doctor's head off before he had all the facts. He certainly was not hiding either of those emotions. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. That Coraline hadn't learned her lesson from her first mistake – turning Mick. How could she have thought she could turn him back, take his memories from him, without even asking him? It was, in Josef's opinion, even worse than being unknowingly turned. How could she think he would want that? To forget everything that had happened over the past 60 years? Because not all of it was bad. Surely she couldn't think it was want he wanted. Or maybe she knew that to be the case and why she hadn't asked his permission or even made herself known; selfishly pretending everything was perfect. Josef could take a lot before being disgusted, but he was long passed that now. The fact that this 'doctor' had gone along with it, even after knowing what was going on, sickened him even more.

"Where are Coraline and Cynthia now?"

"I don't know where Coraline is, but Cynthia is staying at The Hardwick Hotel. She moved in to Coraline's place just before they brought Mick in and only just moved back out."

"Thanks," Josef replied, almost cheerily… and then moved across the room and did as he had wanted – tearing Stuart's head from his body before the other vampire had even registered the movement.


	19. Chapter 17

It was over.

It was all over and they'd hardly even started on their second chance. He remembered the pain he felt during that original attack, months ago. Their wedding night should have been filled with love and happiness; taking his new bride in the honeymoon suite, starting their new life together. Instead it had ended in bloodshed and fear and anger; they'd had the night stolen from them – months stolen from them… for what? Mick still hadn't found out, from Coraline OR their attacker, why he'd done it or what he wanted from them. And tonight… he – 'Joseph' – had done it again. Just as they were again finally starting their new lives together, finally getting past the attack and his too long recovery, finally able to be a 'normal' couple again.

But that wouldn't happen now. Coraline… his Coraline was dead. There was no way she could have survived the attack. Mick remembered enough from his time as a medic that times was of an essence in cases like that and there'd been no one to call an ambulance, no one to help her as he'd been taken away. Maybe if he hadn't asked her to have Cynthia move out, her friend would have been there help her. Or maybe she would be just as dead.

Why hadn't this guy just killed him? Why had he brought him back to this place, and who was this woman that seemed so worried about him… and seemed so damn familiar? Beth… just like his delusions. Perhaps he was stuck in now, it seemed like the only logical explanation, but what did that mean? Had the attack at their house never happened? Perhaps Coraline was safe. Perhaps they were both at home, and she was overcome with worry because he'd slipped into another delusion – delusions they'd both thought he'd gotten over. Would he come out of this one? Perhaps when he or Coraline had been hurt during the attack tonight, he'd slipped back into it, just like after their wedding night. Perhaps he'd never come out of it in the first place. Perhaps everything that had happened since he 'woke up' was make-believe… a delusion inside a delusion?

Was it still a delusion if you were aware of it?

Too many possibilities; it made his head hurt. With a frustrated yell, he got off the pale, leather couch and started pacing the room. The woman… Beth… must have heard him because she came out of the other room quickly; he saw her start to rush to his side before stopping herself.

"Mick, are you okay?"

He laughed, a loud bark of a laugh that was full of anything but humour, and looked up to the ceiling as if seeking guidance from some higher power before looking back at her. "Okay? Okay? I'm never going to be 'okay' again. Your friend attacked me, attacked my WIFE, in our home. He killed her! My Coraline… and our unborn child. The same guy who attacked us on our wedding night, three months ago. So no; no, I'm not going to be okay. But thank you for asking."

Her mouth fell open and he wondered for a moment if the blond had any idea what her friend had done. She looked about as confused as he felt and just as hurt.

"Attack? No, Mick, we were trying to help you. To get you back form her."

"Help? Does it seem like you helped? No. If you wanted to help me, you can 'help' me catch the guy that did this – your friend. You can let me go. You can bring my wife back from the dead. Can't do that? Yeah, I didn't think so. Thanks for all your 'help', lady."

She sunk into a chair as he yelled at her and by the time he'd finished, she wasn't able to contain her tears. They flowed freely, great sobs wracking her body as she covered her face with her hands. Would this be all her life was now; one emotional breakdown after the other? He stalked toward her, grabbed her by the arms and hauled her to her feet. He wanted to tell her she had no right to be upset; not when it had been his family that had been torn apart, destroyed.

"Mick… you're hurting me." But before she'd even got the sentence out, he'd released her and staggered back a step or two, squeezing his eyes shut and putting the heel of one had against his forehead. When he'd grabbed her, he'd felt a jolt of… something… go through him and a vision, a memory, a delusion… he didn't know what.

… _Standing on a balcony with her… "I found my Guardian Angel…" A feeling of love and acceptance; the scent of the approaching dawn._

"What the hell is going on?"

"I think I can answer that… though it sure as hell doesn't make any sense to me, either, at this point." Mick looked up to see Joseph come through the door, the other man's 'answer' coming at the tail end of a beep of some sort. He wanted to attack the man and escape while he had the chance, but for some reason, he seemed rooted to the spot, unable to move.

VvvV

Josef had been able to feel the emotions coming from both… humans… even before he stepped off the elevator on Mick's floor. He'd been out for a long time, the sun rising as he pulled up at Mick's building, and he was glad he hadn't been any longer. He was certain… mostly certain… that Mick, no matter what memories he may or may not have, would never hurt Beth, but he couldn't be sure. Mick thought Josef had killed Coraline, thought he and Beth were working together. Josef had been in love once. He knew the extent he would go to if anyone had ever hurt Sara. Of course, someone had, but that was another story.

After killing the good doctor, Josef had again searched the place, not finding any information other than the address of his 'secret office'. After calling the Cleaners for the second time that night, he sped off to the office address he'd found, easily breaking in and quickly finding all the files about Mick and their research.

Now, carrying the file boxes into the apartment, Josef was exhausted, on more levels than he knew one – especially a vampire – could possibly be. Yes, even vampires got tired on occasion, especially on days like today. One good thing about Mick being human was that Josef could crash in his friend's freezer instead of having to go home; but that wouldn't be happening any time soon. He needed to explain to Mick – and Beth – exactly what happened… at least as well as he could. Tomorrow night, they would have to start going through the research he'd found, for now, he settled with leaving the boxes on the table along with the files from their search for Mick. Finally, he made his way to sit – very ungracefully – in an empty easy chair. All he wanted to do was sleep for a week, but there were still things to do first. He motioned to the couch.

"Take a seat, Mick." Mick chose to stand, defiantly, leaning against a pillar and crossing his arms. "Petulant child," Josef muttered, so low that neither human would be able to hear it. Louder, he said, "fine, have it your way, buddy." He let out an exhausted sigh and rolled his neck, preparing himself. He had to remind himself that just because he and Beth knew what was going on, at least partially, the Mick St. John in front of them had no reason to trust him… and every reason to want to kill him. Nevertheless, it was still hard to reign in his frustration, given how tired he was.

"Mick, what year is it?"

The other man scoffed and rolled his eyes at what he perceived to be one of the stupidest questions he'd ever been asked.

"1953. Almost four months, actually, since you," he stabbed his finger toward the vampire before crossing his arms again, "attacked Coraline and I on our wedding night; in the honeymoon suite, no less. Were you jealous at not being married yourself or something?"

Josef let the accusations slide, concentrating on the subject at hand. "No, Mick. It's 2010. Look around you."

Mick did look around him. He had to admit, if only to himself, that the place did seem kind of… futuristic. "So, you're telling me I got transported somehow to the future?" He clearly didn't believe that from the tone in his voice.

Josef couldn't help but chuckle. "No, Mick; even now time travel isn't possible." He leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees and motioned behind him to the table and the boxes of files he'd brought back with him. "All that is research that Coraline, Cynthia and your doctor have been doing, for years, on memory… and erasing that memory. She's erased all your memories since your 'attack' in 1952. Those weeks you spent 'recovering'" he used air quotes to emphasize his point. "which, by the way, was only about three weeks, not three months, they used to get rid of your memories. Your 'delusions'," again he used air quotes, "are actually your real memories trying to break through."

Mick didn't look any closer to believing him. In fact, as Josef continued speaking, his friend seemed closer and closer to outright laughing and calling the man in the whit jackets to have him committed. "Wow, I must have some pretty good genes, then, to still be this fit at NINETY." He looked quite pleased with himself for his rebuttal. Josef sighed and sat back in the chair.

"Well, that's the other thing." He vamped out and Mick staggered back, shocked. The stress of being 'attacked' no longer an excuse for seeing things. "Vampires exist, and you are one… sort of."

Mick looked to Beth for confirmation, though he didn't know why, and she nodded at him. "It's true, Mick, please believe us!"

However, Mick chose to do the opposite. "You guys are fucking nuts." He spun around and headed to the door. There had to be some logical reason for all this, right? Once he got to the door, he stared at it for a moment and pulled at the handle. It wouldn't budge. He looked at the… TV screen?... beside it, in beautiful colour. Most people still didn't have a TV, and colour TV's were a pipe dream. He looked at the buttons nearby and somehow managed to punch in a code. With a beep, the door started to open. He smiled triumphantly, wishing he'd tried that hours ago. Before he could even think of leaving, though, Josef was somehow between him and the door.

VvvV

These people were clearly insane, there was no way any of what they said could possibly be real. Memory erasing? Sounded like something out of a science fiction novel to Mick. It seemed much more likely that he had just sunk into that delusion once again and stayed there. Of course, the pain he still felt from Josef's 'rescue' sure felt real. This seemed so much different than the last flash he'd had, though, when Cynthia had brought on that vision of he and Beth together. That had seemed distant, like a memory, just as Josef and Beth had insisted. What he was going through now felt so much more real and honestly, how could he make this shit up, unless he was just plain crazy.

After everything he'd been through in the war, how was this the thing that made him crack? One attack on he and his wife had him over the edge; delusional and in recovery for more than three months? Wasn't he stronger than that?

Mick started second guessing his whole life. What was real? What wasn't? He didn't even know anymore. If this was a delusion, he wanted out if it really damn fast. He wanted to wake up and find Coraline, alive and beautiful as always, waiting for him to come out of it. If this was real… what had happened that would have made Coraline want to erase his memories? If this was real, he seemed to have friends that would do anything to help him. How could his life have been that bad? Granted, they hadn't told him much of his supposed life after the wedding, though with the way he reacted to what they had told him, it was understandable.

After Josef had stopped him from leaving, he'd suggested Mick go upstairs and rest. Beth had agreed and even said that she would take the couch. So, they were living together? Or perhaps she was standing guard? One thing was clear – they weren't letting him leave. He'd been a prisoner for months, or so it seemed; first of his own body as he recovered, then in their house as Coraline worried for his safety – though he hadn't complained too much about that – and now here, in this strange apartment with these strange people. Again, he let out a frustrated yell. Absolutely nothing made sense to him. He felt weak and powerless; it was a new feeling for him and he hated it.

A few moments later, Beth appeared in the doorway. "Mick?" She placed her hand on the doorframe tentatively. "I know I said that I wouldn't bother you, but—"

"Then why did you?" He turned around to face her, only a few steps from the door. "Why won't you two just let me go? Or at least leave me in peace, if you're going to keep me prisoner here."

"I was…" tears pooled in her eyes, and he could tell she was trying to keep from releasing them. "I was worried about you…"

"Well, I'm just peachy, thanks." He walked to her and grabbed her arms to push her, gently this time, out of the room so he could close the door like he should have done in the first place. As he touched her… he couldn't do it. He felt… something… pass between them for a moment and he just stood there, looking at her.

And then he pulled her in to kiss her.

It was like no other kiss he'd felt before. Not with Lyla; not with Coraline. As he kissed Beth, he felt perfection; like this was who he was suppose to be with. He pulled her closer and deepened that kiss as she sighed and put her arms around his neck, her shock wearing off. As she surrender to the kiss, he pulled away, wiping his thumb across his lip as if to wipe the kiss away; but Beth had seen that move countless times in the past. She knew what it meant.

"I'm sorry Beth, I…"

"God, Mick, don't be sorry for that." She was almost breathless from the kiss – the first time she'd felt his lips on hers in a month – and excitement and so much more than that.

"No, really. I mean, I barely know you."

"You know me better than you think you do." She turned from him and quietly closed the door behind her.

VvvV

Josef had tried to tune out the conversation as he attempted sleep. He was almost successful until he felt the spike in their emotions; surprise and frustration. Deciding it would be wise to go check on the 'couple', he got out of Mick's freezer and threw on his jeans. Since bringing Mick home, he could sense the lingering feelings his friend had for her; buried underneath the layers of lies Coraline had woven. The Mick that was in the bedroom hardly knew Beth, but Josef could see the spark of recognition in his eyes, the way he calmed when she was near, the way he looked at her; even if the two of them couldn't see it.

Beth was just starting down the stairs as he left the, sub-par to his standards, freezer room. He easily caught up to her and saw her bewildered but ecstatic expression. "Beth, wha—"

"Hid kissed me!"

Josef blinked. "He what?"

Beth smiled and then continued down the stairs; he followed her. "He kissed me! I mean, I could tell he didn't plan it or anything and he apologized after, but… he kissed me." As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she paused and turned back at him, one hand still on the railing, hope shining in her eyes. "That's something, right?"

"Yeah, it is." Nodding, he placed a hand on her shoulder and his eyes held hers in a piercing gaze that did more to stop her than his hand. Though she was being optimistic – the kiss Mick had given her, how ever unintentional, helping with that – he knew that she was still scared and lonely; worried that though they had Mick back, they'd never really have THEIR Mick back. He knew it because he felt it, too. He may not be in love with Mick, but he was still the most important person in the old vampire's life; his best… only… friend. His brother.

"We're going to get through this, Beth."

Beth sniffed and nodded. "It's just so hard. I… thought he was dead and now… he's here, but it almost still feels like he's dead. He said he'd love me forever and now he doesn't even remember me. He's hers. He's Mick… just not my Mick anymore."

Josef nodded in understanding and led her to the couch as she continued. "I just… don't know if I can do this. I mean, be here with him when he doesn't want me. I don't know if I'm strong enough for that."

He pulled her into a hug if only so she couldn't see the look on his face. If he were to be honest with himself, he didn't particularly want to either. He saw the accusation and hatred in Mick eyes – his friend's eyes – and it tore him up. Josef had done many difficult things in his long life; things that he didn't want to do. This would be one of them. He would help Mick – whether the other man wanted him to or not; whether he ever remembered the truth or forgave Josef – even if it meant staying here and keeping Mick a prisoner in his own home. At least until he could think of something else.

"We'll figure this out, Beth. I promise."


	20. Chapter 18

The apartment was quiet and Mick hated it. But then, Mick hated most things right now… maybe 'hate' was a strong word. He sure didn't like anything right now. It had been a week since Josef had killed Coraline and brought him here. He still didn't remember anything and Josef and Beth seemed disappointed. Part of him was disappointed as well. At least he would have had answers.

More than anything… he felt trapped. He could blame no one else but himself. A couple of days prior, Josef had said he was free to leave the loft, though the younger man had insisted someone, preferably Josef himself, was with Mick at all times. Being babysat by the man that had ruined his life. One would think, however, that anything would be better than being cooped up in this apartment, as spacious as it was, for a week.

The truth was… he had no interest in going out. He had no interest in being part of this world – a world he either didn't remember or didn't want to be a part of without his Coraline. He felt completely alone, even though Beth still shared the apartment with him.

Beth… she was probably asleep, or perhaps she was doing the same as he, looking out at the bright twinkling lights of Los Angeles, unable to sleep. He turned to look toward the balcony door behind him. Nothing was there and he didn't know why he did it, except that it seemed every time he thought of the blond, she seemed to appear. He thought of going in to check on her, then furrowed his brow and shook off the idea. It was her idea to take the couch after all. Normally he would have insisted she take the bed, but some part of him craved that bed, so he didn't.

A couple of mornings after Josef had brought him here, he'd come down the stairs to find Beth brewing a pot of coffee in the kitchen and, her pillow and blanket lumped on the couch. Before he'd even opened his mouth, Beth handed him a cup of coffee, then looked over at the couch and back down to her own mug, held between her hands, as if the dark liquid was the most interesting think in the room. Something made him stay there, in front of her, silently waiting for her speak.

Finally she did, telling him that she would look for a new place during the day, to let him have the place to himself. She'd barely met his eyes as she spoke, but he could see how much she didn't want to do it. Somehow he knew that she didn't want to leave the apartment that she said had been her home as well; she didn't want to leave him. He assured her that she didn't need to leave. She could stay, have the bed and he would sleep on the couch. She'd smiled sadly and shook her head and insisted that he take the bed instead, telling him to enjoy it while he could. He didn't really know what she meant by that, but he let it go.

Now, as he turned back to the night cityscape, he thought about that first meeting a week ago. There'd been… something about her. She fascinated him, excited him… he could feel it in his gut and it confused and frustrated him. How could he feel these things for a woman he'd just met? How could these feelings somehow be deeper, stronger, more intense than his feelings for Coraline? How could he have these feelings when he'd just watched his wife die not an hour before meting Beth?

Yes, everything came back to that moment; how could it not? Thinking about those moments, fighting with Josef – getting his ass kicked, more like it – made him feel like his world was collapsing in on him that a huge piece of himself had been torn from him.

And each moment he spent with Beth, that gaping hole wasn't simply filled, but erased; as if it had never happened.

VvvV

Beth had silently appeared in the doorway to the balcony just as Mick turned back to look out at the city below. She couldn't sleep; in fact, she hadn't slept well at all since Mick had first disappeared. She'd lie away on the couch, staring up at the ceiling as if she could she through it to Mick lying on their – no, his – bed above her. What was he thinking? When he slept, did he remember her and their time together in his dreams? Would he ever remember her? Sometimes he would look at her and she could see, teasing the edges of his eyes, the look of love he once gave her. That one kiss he'd given her – as passionate and full of love as he ever had. Beth knew that she had to be in there, in his mind, somewhere and she wanted to scream and rage and shake him until he remembered.

She didn't of course. Doing something like that would only serve to push them further apart. At least he'd let her stay with him. At least she was close to him.

Sometimes, it seemed like it would be easier if she weren't.

She'd run the gamut of emotions since Josef had brought Mick home. She even thought they should have left him with Coraline. God, he had been happy. He'd had none of the bad, horrible memories that he'd carried around all this time. He'd never wanted to be a vampire and now he wasn't and how could they take that from him? Logically, Beth knew it was all a lie, perpetrated by his ex-wife only to get him back, not to make HIM happy. But he hadn't known that. Maybe it wasn't so bad for him to live the rest of his life unaware of his real past; to be back in the past where he had truly been happy, with none of the other stuff – the vampirism, the loneliness, the guilt to trouble him.

Perhaps he didn't hate what he was anymore, but he had. He had decades of hardship and memories that Beth would have wanted to erase herself, given the choice, if it would make him even happier. Perhaps she should be thankful to Coraline for finding a way to do what she could not.

There was a difference of course.

Coraline had taken his life, all those years ago, with such great intentions, giving him what she thought he would want and had not asked him first. Beth knew in her heart that Coraline had done exactly the same thing this time. She was sure of it. She'd not learned her lesson the first time, it was certain. Beth knew – she KNEW – that had that happened, Mick would have spoken to her about it. If he had chosen that path, he would have at least said goodbye; if he hadn't done so to her, he certainly would have to Josef. From the time she had spent with Josef, it was clear to her that hadn't happened either.

Part of her felt bad for Coraline, who was obviously so in love with Mick she would employ everything she was capable of to get him back, but she knew it didn't matter. Maybe when she'd first met Mick, when he was still so unsure of himself, still so afraid to get close to anyone, maybe then he would have agreed to this plan. Not now. Now he was happy. Maybe Beth was just as selfish as Coraline, but she knew that she at least had 'right' on her side.

Tonight, as she had lain on the couch, she willed herself to sleep; perhaps dream of a far off memory of she and Mick together… Maybe the time he'd taken her in the carousel house in Santa Monica. It wasn't long before she heard Mick go out to he balcony. He'd been out there quite a while before Beth finally pulled back the blanket covering her and rose from the couch to follow him. She padded out to the balcony clad in the silk PJ pants and cotton tank she'd been trying to sleep in. Despite the time she'd stood reflecting and watching him, he'd not turned back to her. Another reminder that her Mick, her vampire, was gone.

Well, not completely.

"You know, since I've known you, this has always been your favourite place to come and think."

Mick spun around at the sound of her voice and she couldn't help but smile at that. There were SOME perks to him being human. She'd never been able to surprise him as a vampire.

"Beth!"

She took a few steps toward him, still giving him plenty of space. "Sorry." Another few steps. "I always hate to bother you, but you said my presence helped you."

Recovered now, from the shock of her arrival, he furrowed his brow. Was this really a habit of his? Was he starting to remember, or was this just such a ritual for him that it was ingrained in him? Like the security code… before Josef had changed it. He turned his back to her again, leaning on the top of the ledge as he looked out to the city. Before she could turn to go, feeling she'd intruded, he spoke, finally letting her in on the battle had that had been raging in his mind.

"Nothing makes sense. I've been thinking about all of this ever since I came here and I just don't know what to believe. Vampires aren't real. All the rest of this can only be… science fiction. Memory erasing drugs? Computers that fit in the palm of your hand? It's not possible. I have to be locked in some kind of delusion, like Coraline said. But it's almost so crazy it HAS to be real. I mean, how could I make this up?" He turned to look behind his shoulder at her, as if hoping she had the answer.

Without hesitation now, she moved to his side. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him they'd get though this, like he had done for her so many times. Instead, she settled for standing at his side.

"Maybe Josef can help you…" she saw his eyes darken with anger at the mention of the vampire. "I know he can help you, Mick. He's powerful. Maybe he can bring back your memories." Beth and Josef had discussed the very possibility. He thought it may be possible to return his memories, without turning him, by thralling him. He refused to even entertain either option unless Mick asked him to. He would not make the same mistake as Coraline, no matter how much it hurt them all.

"And what if the real truth is that I'm in psych ward making all of this up, and if I go along with what you say I'll be there until I die?"

Beth looked down at her hands, holding back tears. "I guess… I guess there's no way I can convince you. But… what if what you say is true? What if Josef's attacks put you back in this delusion. Which reality is better? The one where you and your wife were attacked again, leaving her dead and sending you into this delusion? Or the real truth that, despite some rough times, you have a best friend who would do anything for you and a woman who would love you for eternity, if you gave her the chance?"

His eyes searched her face and for the briefest moment she thought she saw her Mick shining through his hazel eyes. Before she could tell for sure, though, it was gone, replaced by a scowl. A world with monsters… where he was a monster? Or a world he didn't want to be a part of because Coraline was dead? He looked away, down at his hands that rested on the ledge.

"I don't know…"

Beth said nothing; did nothing. She simply stood there, watching as the sun began to peek through the buildings.

It was a start.


	21. Chapter 19

Josef turned off the engine of the most non-descript vehicle he had in his collection and pocketed the keys. With both hands needlessly on the steering wheel, he stared out the window at the concrete wall of Mick's parking garage.

After 410 years, Josef Kostan was no stranger to disappointment, to loss, and hundreds of people if not more had hated him through the centuries; so much so that he'd long since stopped wanting anything too much or getting too close to anyone. Mick had somehow broken through the barriers the elder vampire had erected decades before he'd even been born. Josef had never quite figured out how he'd done it, but he was thankful for it. Until the past few decades, he'd never known what it had been like to have a true friend. It was refreshing to say the least.

And now that friend hated him, and would likely hate him even more before the day was out, Josef was certain.

Nevertheless, Mick was still his friend and Josef wanted him to be happy. Right now, he most certainly was NOT. After speaking to Beth the night before, they'd decided something had to happen to force Mick to make a decision of some sort. He either needed to go back to the life he thought he knew, or find some way to force his memories to return. Waiting patiently was no longer an option for any of them and while neither Beth nor Josef were exactly rooting for option number one, if that was what Mick chose to do, they would have no choice but to let him do it, though of course, Josef would never be far away. They couldn't stand in the way of his happiness, they loved him that much, and Josef couldn't stand to have Mick hate him anymore then he already did.

Finally, Josef exited the car, locked it, and made his way to elevator and up to Mick's apartment. During that short trip, he tried not to think about the worst that could happen – never getting his friend back – but simply tried to concentrate on helping him. Today felt like the most important day of his very long life. He knew this was his last chance to help the most important person that he'd ever had in his life.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Beth answered the door. The fact that something had made Mick let her stay had given both of them hope. SOMETHING inside Mick remembered her. That was part of what they hoped to tap into.

"Hello Beth."

"Josef," she said, relief still evident in her voice even though she would have seen him in the security monitor. "I'm so glad you're here." She stepped aside to allow him to enter. "Please, come in."

As he stepped passed her, across the threshold into the apartment, his eyes never left her. He studied her, trying to figure out if there was something wrong. He couldn't sense anything; at least, nothing more than had been coming from her since this whole ordeal started. In fact, there seemed to be a small part of her that seemed… relaxed. Even still, he asked "is everything alright?"

She nodded as she closed the door and took a moment to look toward the stairs, as if making sure they were still alone. He couldn't blame her, Mick would not be happy when he found out she'd let Josef in; even invited him over. It was best if they could finish their conversation before that happened. "Yeah, everything's fine. In fact, he's really been opening up to me the last couple of days."

If their plan didn't work, Beth would lose everything. Again. Josef took two steps to stand in front of her, looked down at her and with the slightest of smiles on his face, placed a hand on her cheek. "It's going to be okay, Beth." There was no way to know if he'd be able to keep the promise; they were both painfully aware of that, but she covered his hand with her own and returned his smile. Mick may have been opening up to her more in the last couple of days, but Josef and Beth had been getting closer as well, since he'd gone missing. He'd never met a woman – especially a human – quite like the Beth that was being revealed to him.

That was the moment Mick chose to come down the stairs. Josef could feel the anger rolling off him in waves as he raced down the remainder of the stairs and across the space to where Josef and Beth stood. The vampire didn't stop Mick from pushing him against the door in a choke hold. It wasn't as if the human could hurt him. It was still so strange to refer to Mick as 'human' no matter how much the younger man may have wanted that to be true in the past.

"Mick!" Beth tried to pull his arm away from Josef's throat. Mick whipped his head around, scowling at her.

"What the hell is he doing here?"

"Mick, please… he just wants to help."

Mick did let go then, turning his whole body toward the blond. Josef remained where he was for the moment, though still poised to step in if Mick's anger took the better of him. Josef knew – well, hoped anyway – that the old Mick was still in control enough that he wouldn't hurt Beth, but he wasn't about to take the chance. In the end, it wasn't needed and Josef simply waited for Beth to convince Mick to let him help.

"Help? Ha!" There was nothing pleasant about that laugh, or the smile on his face. "I think he's 'helped' enough already." Shaking his head, Mick stalked away from them and ran his hand through his hair.

She took a step toward him and repeated her plea. "Mick, please…" Though the other man's back was still to him, Josef could see his body slowly release its tension as he surrendered to her plea.

Yes, their Mick was definitely still in there, somewhere. There was still hope that they'd be able to pull him back to the surface.

VvvV

The drive into Hollywood from Mick's building seemed to take an eternity – and Josef knew a thing or two about that. Mick was silent the entire ride, starting out the window. Josef could easily feel his anger, and even his wonder. This was, after all, the first time he'd really been able to take in his surroundings and things look all the more real – and, no doubt, strange – when you are travelling along the street, rather than staring out from the roof of a building over a dozen stories tall. Almost at their destination, he now felt the recognition come from Mick at the sight of houses that he remembered being around Coraline's house. Mick turned to him.

"What are we doing?"

Josef chose to answer his question with one of his own. "If this is all something you made up in your mind, how do you explain the fact that Coraline is alive? I didn't kill her; she's alive and she hasn't even come to you. You saw what I did to her. There's no way any human could have lived through that."

Mick looked at Josef, mouth agape, as if the man had two heads. "Of course she's dead. There's no way, as much as I wish there was, that she could possibly have lived through what YOU did to her. If she is a live that would be…" That would be 'what'? Mick wasn't even sure anymore. "At the very least, she would be recovering from her wounds."

Just then, Josef stopped the car and Mick scowled. This was the last place he wanted to be; their home… so many good memories, all overshadowed by a few horrific ones.

"You're wrong, Mick." Josef pulled out a pair of binoculars and handed them to his friend. He could plainly see Coraline standing in the middle of the living room, talking and laughing with Cynthia. "Look."

Mick looked at Josef, at the binoculars in his hand, and then out the window to the glass house he knew so well. He didn't want to, but something made him slowly raise them to his eyes. He watched in disbelief as Coraline – who was suppose to be dead – stood with Cynthia in the living room chatting. He saw his wife give out a hearty laugh at something her friend had said, then effortlessly bend to gather some magazines from the coffee table and set them neatly on a shelf.

He lowered the binoculars, but continued to stare at the house. He wondered how this could be possible; aloud, he said "it's a trick."

Josef didn't bother to say anything. Even as Mick inspected the binoculars, the vampire could feel that he didn't believe that it was a trick… as much as he no doubt wanted to. He repeated his earlier questions.

"If this were something you dreamed up; if this were all in your head, how is this possible? If you were going to dream that she were alive, why wouldn't you also dream that she made herself known to you? Why wouldn't you have given yourself some kind of closure? If this is real, if everything Beth and I have told you is true, how else do you explain how she lived through that fight and healed so quickly other than her being something more than human; a vampire?"

"You knew. You knew she was alive. Why didn't you say something… if we're such good 'friends'?"

Josef didn't reply. What could he say? Instead, he put the car back in drive and pulled away, heading back to Mick's place.

"What are you doing? I have to see her!" Mick clawed at the door handle, but the car was locked. Josef ignored his protests, instead, finally, focusing on his earlier questions.

"Yes, I knew she was alive. Her body was gone by the time I returned to the house that night and your doctor, and the research I found at his office, explained how it had happened. The good doctor IS dead though, that I made sure of. Just be happy I didn't do the same to Coraline."

"And just how does someone kill a 'vampire'?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Whether Mick really did want to know, or was simply humoring him, Josef didn't know, but he couldn't trust his friend right now – and that just about WAS enough to kill him – so he wasn't about to give Mick any ideas on how to take him out. Mick just rolled his eyes at him. Josef couldn't be happier to see it.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mick wasn't talking about methods of vampire execution anymore.

"What are you talking about, Mick? I just did." In truth, Josef had been tracking Coraline for days. He knew she would be with Cynthia – the two women were practically attached at the hip, after all. But neither of them had been at the Hardwick Hotel when he'd gone there, no doubt having moved when they realized Josef had gotten to their partner. They'd turned up at the house the day before and Josef was certain someone had been watching Mick's building and whoever it was always pulled away when he approached.

Knowing he wasn't going to get anything else out of the other man, Mick tossed the binoculars into the small back seat, slumped into his own seat and went back to staring out the window.


	22. Chapter 20

The dark apartment was silent.

Mick had insisted Beth take the bed. His conscience couldn't take her sleeping on the couch another night. Whether she realized it or not, she'd obviously been hoping he would offer; she didn't put up any kind of fight, asking only 'are you sure?' and she seemed, to Mick anyway, to be having her first good night's sleep since he'd arrived.

His motives weren't entirely selfless, however. After checking to make sure she was asleep, Mick crept carefully and silently back down the stairs and made his way over to the files still strewn across the dining table. Though Beth and Josef had spent hours over the last week pouring through them, Mick hadn't wanted anything to do with them. He didn't really know what they were looking for, but he'd heard something about bribed cops and multiple missing persons. He couldn't deny that his curiosity had been piqued; had it not been about his supposed 'case', be probably would have helped. As it was, he had wanted nothing to do with their lies…

It was different now. Ever since he'd returned from his 'outing' with Josef, he hadn't stopped thinking about everything they'd told him. He felt torn. He wanted to feel confused; he SHOULD feel confused, but deep down he felt… at peace. He'd made a decision, he just needed to admit it to himself… and follow through. That feeling only got stronger as he looked through the files on the table. Notes in his handwriting about a missing reporter, more files about more missing people, tracing to his doctor and finally… files and files and files of detailed research that had to have taken years, on memory and drugs and vampires and humans and cures… he didn't even go through it all. No, he didn't remember anything more than he had when he'd woken up that morning, but somehow everything just seemed to feel… right. He knew what he needed to do.

After a couple of hours of going through the files in the dim light, Mick sighed and rubbed his temples. He stood and walked over to the closet, quietly pulling out Beth's large bag and rummaging around to find her phone. Putting aside his wonder at the small device, he managed to navigate it well enough to call Josef's number.

VvvV

For the second time that day, Josef was driving to Mick's, a sense of hope and worry consuming him. To say he hadn't been surprised that Mick called would be a lie; if he'd been human, he was sure he would have had a heart attack. He'd first been surprised to get a call from Beth so late at night and through he hid it in his greeting, he couldn't help but worry that something was wrong. The surprise and worry stuck around when he heard Mick's voice, asking him to come to the apartment; but he was also full of hope.

Unlike the first time he had come by, he wasted no time after pulling into an empty parking space before heading up to the penthouse and letting himself in. Mick had obviously been pacing the room as he waited for the vampire. Josef closed the door behind him and took a step toward his friend.

"Mick, what—"

"Beth said you could help me."

Josef closed his eyes briefly and could not hide the sigh of relief at Mick's words. Would this all finally be over? He took another step toward him and nodded. "I think, if I… turn you back," he almost hated to say it, knowing how much his friend – his real friend – would have hated the thought, "your memories will come back. I can't see any other way to do it that won't take a lifetime." Mick had been off the drugs for almost a week and it didn't seem like his memories were much closer to returning.

"If that's all you have to do, and you wanted to help me so much, why didn't you do it before?"

Josef finally closed the rest of the distance between them and couldn't stop himself from putting a hand on Mick's shoulder. For the first time, his friend didn't flinch at the contact.

"My God, Mick, I would never do that. I could never turn you against your will; never without you saying it was what you wanted. Coraline did that to you. She turned you without asking you, without even telling you about vampires. That's why you left her. You never really forgave her and it wasn't until recently – until you met Beth a few years ago – that you finally came to terms with what you were. I would never do that to you again. You may hate me now, but I hope that it won't always be like that, no matter what happens."

Mick nodded, even if he didn't really understand what Josef was saying, or remember any of it. The way the other man spoke, though, made him wonder briefly if this would be a mistake. He remembered what he said about Beth; she obviously helped him a great deal; took away some of the pain that his wife had somehow put there. It seemed everything came back to the blond woman sleeping peacefully upstairs. If only for his curiosity about her, he wanted to do this. "I want you to do this."

Josef smiled and released his shoulder. "Well alright then. When do you want to do this? You'll want to enjoy life for—"

"Now. I want this over; whatever that means. I can't live like this anymore. Do it."

Josef completely understood. He shared Mick's desire to have this whole ordeal behind them. "Okay, but not here. It could be dangerous… for Beth. I'm also stocked up on… supplies."

"Let's go then." Mick did not hesitate and headed toward the door. Josef looked up at the top of the stairs and caught the blue eyes, silently looking down at the scene below, before following Mick out of the apartment.

VvvV

No sooner had Josef walked through the entrance to his home than he was yelling for everyone to wake up and take the rest of the night off. He had no idea how this was going to go. After all, he'd never exactly RE-turned anyone before. Would Mick just be regular old brooding Mick as soon as he woke or would he be like a regular new turn and hungry for warm, fresh blood?

Would this even work?

He asked Mick if he wanted anything – the least he could do was offer him a last supper… or at least a last drink. Mick refused, reiterating how much he just wanted this over with. Josef could tell that he'd been thinking about it the whole drive over. His fear and worry and curiosity were palpable. The vampire nodded and after gathering some of the donated blood he had stored in the fridge, led Mick into the office, shutting the door behind them.

Turning back to Mick, he had a brief moment of worry. Josef hadn't tried to turn anyone since Sara. What if it didn't work? Coraline's research said if Mick died he would revert anyway, but… Sara hadn't exactly died; she'd slipped into something else; something between life and death, human and vampire. What if that happened to Mick? Of course, he'd successfully turned plenty of other people throughout his life; she had just been the most important, she and Mick. He'd tried to be careful with her, too careful. He'd learned from that and wouldn't make the same mistake again.

Josef walked over to his friend, placed a hand on each of his shoulders and looked into his eyes. He opened himself up completely to Mick's body and emotions; listened to the beat of his human heart, the pace of his human breathing and the intensity of his human emotions; he was savouring those for his friend, but also alert for any sign that this wasn't really what he wanted to do.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Josef!" He could feel no hesitation, no second guessing coming from the human. Mick wasn't happy about it and didn't completely trust him, but this was what he wanted. If this were his Mick, he wouldn't be so impatient; he would realize why Josef was hesitating. Josef nodded and shed his leather jacket.

"Forgive me," he pleaded under his breath and then pulled Mick to him, vamping out as he did so and sunk his fangs into Mick's neck. He cried out in pain at the bite and at the sensation of Josef pulling his blood from his body. It wasn't a slow, sensual feeding that was meant to give both parties pleasure; Josef had a single-minded purpose – save his friend. He wasn't going to risk screwing this up. His blood tasted more pure than the blood of a man his age should taste – whether that age be 30 or 88. The life flowed from Mick into Josef; he felt Mick weaken in his arms, felt his consciousness fade… it was time.

He gathered his friend in his arms and carried him the few steps to the couch and laid him down on the plus cushions. He spared a brief moment to look down at his friend and feel a twinge of guilt at taking his life. The Mick in front of him had asked him to, but would his Mick have made the same decision? There was no time to dwell on that thought, however. The decision had been made and if he wanted to give Mick the chance to hate him, he needed to finish the job. He knelt on the floor at his side and tore into his own wrist – rougher than he needed to; his own personal punishment for what he'd done. He held the wound open with his other hand and raised it above Mick's mouth. The human did not respond right away to the thick, red drops of cool blood painting his lips and Josef worried – KNEW – that this was going to be Sara all over again. The person closest to him would be stuck in a coma for—

Mick's tongue peaked out from between his lips and slowly started to lick the powerful blood away.

VvvV

Mick hadn't been prepared for the pain he felt when Josef bit his neck. The sensation of blood, not simply flowing from his body, but being pulled from it was like nothing he'd ever felt before – that he could remember at least; pain and pleasure all at once. Then it faded; the world faded. He felt like he was falling. Then it was raining and he was suddenly so thirsty… as if he'd been out in the desert for days with no water. Somehow he managed to stick his tongue out to catch the rain drops as they fell, hoping they would be enough to soothe his parched throat. They weren't. He reached up for the rain cloud and pulled it toward him, drinking deeply.

Images assaulted his mind – an alley, hit from behind, a slash across his shoulder and a warm feeling that spread through his body, a blond… Cynthia. The vision ended and countless more took its place. Despite the mental and visual assault, he continued to drink the thick, powerful liquid that rejuvenated him with each mouthful until it was pulled away from him.

A moment later he was sitting up on the couch, a vicious snarl of anger and hunger coming from him. White eyes turned to Josef, who smiled nervously and whose own eyes were shifting back to whiskey brown.

"Take me to Coraline."


	23. Chapter 21

When Mick's first words were to ask Josef to take him to Coraline, the elder vampire had been worried. Had it not worked? Had they lost Mick forever? After the 'new' turn had some of the blood Josef had brought into the office with them, his 'sire' dutifully took him to the garage and they left for Coraline's house. It was another silent ride. Mick hadn't said anything aside from those four words. Josef didn't know what he was thinking as he looked out the passenger window, but Josef was running through all the worst-case scenarios he could think of; sending up silent apology to Beth.

When they arrived at the glass house, the sun was peaking over the horizon. Still without a word, Mick left the car and quickly made his way to the front door. It was locked, but that did nothing to slow him down. With a flick of his wrist, he'd twisted the handle until it gave way.

"Coraline!" The shout wasn't needed, however; she was already running into the living room, having felt his approach.

"Mick!" She wrapped her arms around him. "I was so worried!" She kissed him, hard and passionate, over and over. She had to have known Mick was a vampire again, had to know that Josef watching from the doorway, just as Josef could feel that she was alone; Cynthia was out. Still, she continued the act.

Finally, Josef saw that Mick wasn't buying it anymore. He knew now that it had been cold, steeled determination keeping Mick silent for that drive. This was a side of his friend that he'd never seen before. He pushed her away with enough force to have her stumbling back a few steps. He circled her like a cat stalking its prey.

"Cut the crap, Coraline. If you were so worried, why didn't you come find me? I wasn't that hard to find. Why did you make me think you were dead – AGAIN? Do you have any idea how that felt?"

Coraline was stunned. "Mick… I… I had to wait until you were alone." Even Coraline wasn't stupid enough to try and come through Josef to get to Mick and whether Mick and Beth knew it or not, Josef had spent most of his time guarding his friends. She took a step toward him, but Mick just continued that slow circling.

"How could you do this to me?" He didn't know what he expected her to say, or even what he wanted to hear. He was certain, though, that nothing she said could change anything now. He just had to hear it – whatever 'it' was – from her.

Her eyes filled with tears and she was almost shaking. Josef knew this was no act. She was, for the first time since he'd known her, completely and utterly terrified. She could feel Mick slipping through her cunning fingers. "But… Mick… I love you! I had to fix the mistakes I made! I had to give you back what I took from you. So we can be happy together again."

Mick did stop his pacing, now. He let out a single bark of a laugh and ran his hand roughly through his hair.

"Fix your mistakes?" His voice echoed through the glass-lined room. Then he was in her face, voice suddenly calm, controlled and somehow more frightening as he backed her further into the kitchen with each word. "You haven't even learned from your mistakes. You stole my memories from me. You stole Joz'f from me. You stole… you stole My Beth from me."

"I… I don't understand."

"Of course you don't. Maybe… maybe once… or maybe in the future, there might have been a chance." He pushed her down into a dining room chair. She was too shocked to stop him, too shocked at these words coming from him, things he'd NEVER said before. They were eternal! How could there be no more chances for them? She had to be hearing him wrong… right? His next words snapped that thin thread of hope she clung to. "Not anymore."

He leaned in, as if he was going to kiss her – goodbye? – and reached behind her as if to pull her to him.

"Goodbye Coraline." In one swift movement, he pulled the spindle from the back of the chair and plunged it deep into her heart.

"I did it for you," she managed to say, but Mick was finished listening to her lies and promises.

The first time he killed Coraline, all those years ago, it was as if he were putting the stake through his own heart. This time it just felt… over; as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulder. Of course, it wasn't over yet.

He took a step back and leaned again the table. Closing his eyes for a moment, he took a deep breath; slowing releasing it, as if expelling everything she'd done to him with that unneeded breath. He opened them only when he felt Josef approach. Everything was clear now. This was real. The only question in his mind was how he could have ever loved this woman. He spoke to Josef without turning away from Coraline who still looked at him with fearful, pleading eyes.

"I remember everything. Everything from the past eight decades and everything I felt before you turned me back. I…" He sighed and finally turned to look briefly at his friend who was now standing next to him, and then back to Coraline.

Then, he pushed away from the table and walked to the fireplace. Over the mantle hung a large DuVall shield that held two crossed swords. He pulled one from its sheath and returned to stand in front of Coraline, raising the perfect, sharp, steel blade.

"It ends now."


	24. Epilogue

"If we keep coming here, we're going to have to find a bigger place to live before we're over-run by stuffed animals." Beth's laughter as she spoke was music to Mick's ears and somehow he had the idea that she wasn't all that upset about the possibility.

They walked along the pier at Santa Monica once more, one of Beth's hands in his own and the other holding another large stuffed animal – a lion, this time. Tonight, however, they'd arrived much earlier in the evening and he hadn't arranged to have the place to themselves. It wasn't that he loved the pier so much that he had to bring her back again so soon, but it was like starting over. After the last time they'd come here, everything had changed. This was a new start for them and he was hoping everything would change again – for the better.

Mick nervously patted his pocket occasionally as they walked and chatted and kissed. Santa Monica was also where he decided he wanted to marry her. It was only fitting, then, that they return tonight.

It had been a week since he'd killed Coraline, separating her head from her body. A week since he'd returned to their apartment and Beth's arms. A week since his memories had returned and, after a proper reunion in their king size bed, a week since he'd blamed himself for forgetting his love, his Beth, even though there was nothing he could have done about it. It had been a week since she'd put her hand on his cheek, smiled that radiant smile and kissed him; reassuring him.

"You didn't forget me, Mick," she had said to him. "You were just lost." Deep down, he knew that to be true. He remembered everything that had happened during the ordeal, including his time with Beth and his confused feelings about her. No, of everything and everyone, Beth could not be erased from his heart or mind or soul, nor his feelings for her, as much as Coraline wished it to be true. He loved Beth with every fiber of his being. That realization was the catalyst that firmly pushed him to this moment.

"Beth, wait." He stopped their leisurely walk near the carousel house and she looked at him curiously, though that beautiful smile never wavered.

"What is it?" He released her hand to take the lion and set it on the boardwalk beside her. Taking both of her hands in his, he lowered to one knee in front of her.

"Oh my God…" if she had a hand free, no doubt she would have raised it to her mouth, instead she stood there, her smile growing and her heart pounding furiously. Just as Beth had entwined herself so much in his life that he couldn't forget her, he knew that sound, that reaction, would do the same. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small velvet box, opening it with one hand.

"Beth Turner, I am completely and totally in love with you. You are a part of me and nothing can tear us apart… Will you marry me?" Whether it was for eternity or only a few decades, he wanted her at his side and he wanted the world to know she was his.

"Yes! Yes I'll marry you!" She was crying as he slipped the large sapphire and diamond ring on her finger and rose to his feet; he knew they were tears of complete happiness. He knew, because the same tears slipped down his cheeks as well. Instantly they were in each other's arms, ignoring or not even hearing the applause and cheers from the crowd that had gathered to watch the young couple's proposal. Beth broke their passionate kisses to not only catch her breath but whisper against his lips, low enough that only his vampire hearing could hear.

"Take me home."

Mick's eyes sparkled with happiness and desire, mirroring hers as he looked down at her and scooped her up to cradle her in his arms. His lips were back on hers, then, and only as an afterthought did he remember to grab the lion's ear. His vampire reflexes allowed him to continue kissing her as he carried both of them back to the car.

Life was perfect.

~ End


End file.
